


Inner thoughts

by Shaq23anime



Category: Ed Edd n Eddy
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:35:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22094980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaq23anime/pseuds/Shaq23anime
Summary: Let take a look into the inner thoughts of everyone's favorite dork as he struggles through terminal illness, past relationships, current relationships, and reinventing himself. In addition to bullying, attempted rape, extreme acts of violence and crippling anxiety. Welcome to High school.
Relationships: Edd "Double D"/Kevin, Edd "Double D"/Nathan "Nat" Goldberg
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just a warning, this fic may be a slow burn in the beginning but there may be violence, rape, and bullying. if you know you are going to be triggered by any of this, then please do not read. I have 2 other stories on here plus a 4th one coming soon that may be to your liking. Also, there will be male on male love and a possible sex scene at the very end, if you do not like that then, by all means, continue reading, I love pissing off the bigots.

“It’s summer…….what time is it?” the dark-haired boy thought to himself while he slowly looked for his hat. He had been resting in bed all day and lost all concept of time. It was odd for him, he didn’t feel like doing anything. He didn’t want to clean, or look after his bug specimens or go outside to help his friend with yet another one of his scams. In fact, given the circumstances, Eddy was surprisingly understanding of his smart friend's wishes to be left alone and promising to visit later in the day. With a yawn, double D slowly got out of bed and scratched the back of his neck. Half of his day was spent watching youtube videos on his laptop and the other half has spent either sleeping, eating or staring up at the ceiling. He looked over at the headboard of his bed and tore off the label he had placed there weeks prior. It said bed on it, he grinned a little and ripped it in half.

[Why did I put this on here again?]

There was no real purpose to it, the act of labeling everything around him was just something that he did. It made him feel comfortable knowing what and where everything was. He didn’t really need it, his life didn’t change dramatically after he got rid of the bed label. 

[So what’s the point?]

For the next hour, Edd found himself ripping the labels off of each and every item in his room. When he was done he dropped a small piece of bread into his ant farm. He then noticed his hat wedged in between the nightstand and his bed on the floor. He reached for it and slipped it on. He was about to go over to his wastebasket when he heard the doorbell ring. He sighed and tied up the plastic of the basket and carries the small bag of garbage with him towards the door. 

[Thank god, they’re here.]

He knew exactly who it was, truth be told he thought he didn’t want to be around them. He didn’t really want to be around anyone at first, but he did want to be around Ed and Eddy. He made his way downstairs and to the front door, when he opened it he was bombarded by the sweaty body of his dimwitted friend.

“Double D, said Ed engulfing the other child in a crushing hug, “I missed you so much, are you ok? Can I get you anything? Chocolate? Gravy? Buttered toast? Whatever you want Double D just say the word”.  
Eddy frowns and walks into the house patting Ed’s shoulder, “how about you give him back his lungs lumpy?”   
“Can’t……..breathe”, Double D choked out as Ed squeezes the life out of him.  
“Whoops,” said Ed letting go of his friend, “sorry Double D, but seriously are you ok?”

Double D kneeled over a little trying to catch his breath. He looked down on the floor, for now, he was ok, at least physically. Finding out that you might or might not live past the age of 15 can take its toll on a person's emotional state. He was about to answer when Eddy interrupted them.

“Get dressed, we’re going out”, said Eddy loudly smiling in his usual manic way.  
“But Eddy, it’s 9:00 and we’re 14, where can we possibly go at this hour?” said Double D ignoring Eddy’s rude and loud gesture. 

[Please let it be some crazy scam, I could use the distraction.]

He needed this, he needed him, since this whole thing started Eddy was the only person to maintain a sense of normalcy. Whether it was for himself not being able to accept his friend’s diagnosis and choosing to ignore it in favor of maintaining the status quo or doing it for Double D’s sake, either way, it was greatly appreciated.   
“What’s the big deal?” said Eddy casually, “it is not like it’s a school night. Come on there’s a bonfire down by the beach, everyone’s going to be there.”  
“Yeah”, Ed chimed in, “Jimmy, Johnny, Sarah, Naz, Kevin, and Rolf. Oh and don’t forget plank”.  
“And the sooner we get there, the quicker I can make some cash,'' said Eddy rushing out the door again and retrieving a cooler. He kicked it inside the house and opened it to reveal about a dozen soda bottles filled with a weird looking blue liquid with blue and green pebbles floating around in it.   
Double D chuckled as he approached the cooler. He picked up a bottle and examined its contents, “Eddy, is this blueberry cool-aid?”  
“Mixed with green and blue pop rocks, TONIGHT’S ITS GRAND PREMIERE, “said Eddy taking the bottle away from him and placing it back in the cooler, “EDDY’S SUGAR COMA SODA POP”.  
“I see,” said Double D amused, “sounds nauseating and not an ounce of nutritional value whatsoever”.

[I fucking love it.]

Ed grinned, “that says Eddy all over it”.  
“WHATEVER”, said Eddy heading back for the door, “come on Double D, hurry up, we have an hour before they decide the close the beach”.  
“Ok fine, just let me get my blanket”, said Double D running towards the staircase.

It took them a few minutes but pretty soon they were out and heading towards the beach. They got there within minutes due to Eddy talking Ed into carrying the cooler with him and Double D riding on top of it. Once there they headed toward where the group of kids laughing and talking to one another around a large smoking drum. As they got closer they could see the flame rising high out of the drum and the sound of music could be heard in the background. On any normal day, the Ed’s arrival would mean that the party was over. However, since their journey to visit Eddy’s brother and the events that transpired afterward the kids of the cul de sac began to accept the Ed’s into the fold. Certain things have changed and others have not but they essentially got along with one another. Double D and Eddy hopped off the cooler and the shorter of the trio went into instant salesman mode. He opened up the cooler and showed everyone a bottle of his new creation.  
“SUGAR COMA, GET YOUR SUGAR COMA COLA HERE”, yelled Eddy getting the other kid's attention.  
Double D moved closer to him and whispered in his ear, “I thought you were calling it sugar coma soda pop”.   
“Nah that name was lame”, said Eddy, “COME AND GET YOUR SUGAR COMA COLA, ONLY 25 CENTS”.  
Naz smiled at him from her seat next to Kevin on their blanket, “well it is a lot cheaper than the ones at the store”.  
“What are you up to this time dork?” said Kevin rolling his eyes.  
“Relax shovel chin,” said Eddy casually as the other kids approached him, “just call me Willy Wonka cause I’ve created the perfect soda to satisfy your sweet tooth. For just 25 cents you too can enjoy the greatest combination in the world, pop rocks, and soda pop”.  
“ Ooh,” said Jimmy followed by Sarah, “that sounds yummy”.  
“yeah I want one, “ said Sarah reaching into her change purse for her money.  
“I too enjoy the taste of the fizzy liquid,” said Rolf also coming towards him.  
Naz also grabbed her change purse and stood up from the blanket, “this I’ve got to try, you want one Kev? It’s on me”.  
“Nah I’m good,” said Kevin suddenly very aware of a certain gap-toothed male heading his way, “besides one of us has to be healthy enough to get the other to a hospital”.  
“Oh come on,” said Naz chuckling, “I’m sure it’s not going to be too bad”. She turned around to walk towards Eddy but ran into Double D, “oh…um…hey Double D”.  
“Greetings Naz”, said Double D giving her an easy smile.   
Naz looked at him with concern in her eyes, “how is everything? I mean are you ok?”

[I wish everyone would stop asking me that.]

“I’m fine Naz,” said Double D in a polite tone, “my flight is tomorrow, my parents used to know an expert over there”.  
“Well that’s a relief,” said Naz, “ hey why don’t you sit next to Kevin, there’s a spot available for your blanket”.  
“ I see,” said Double D, “I think I’ll do that, I’ll see you when you get back”.

The two separated and the smart male made his way over to where Kevin was sitting. He moved toward the other end of the redhead and looked out at the ocean ahead of him with a smile. While he laid out his blanket on the sand, the redhead glanced over his way and tensed up a bit. He made a mental note to kill Naz later for this as the nerd sat on the blanket next to him. 

“Sup dork”, said Kevin looking away from the other male to hide his blushing face.

[Would it kill you to call me Edward for once.]

Edd sighed and continued to look out to the sea, “not a single damn thing Kevin”.

[Whoops, I did not mean to say that out loud.]

Kevin’s eyes widened a bit as the statement forced him to look back over at Edd, “whoa…uh…ok. Um….everything alright?”  
“I don’t know yet”, said Edd, “I guess I will have to wait and see till after they have removed the tumor”.

It was quiet for a while and Kevin looked over at where Naz was having a lively conversation with Eddy while sipping the drink she just purchased from him. At that moment another question sprang to his mind, “are you scared?”

[Of all the questions to ask, why did it have to be that one?]

“I…..” the words were caught in his throat as he tried his best to not choke up. It happened from time to time, though not as often as it did when he was first diagnosed, “I’m terrified”.

[Yet another thing I didn’t mean to say out loud, fucking hell.]

Kevin kept his gaze out at the sea, he wouldn’t dare look over at Edd again out of fear that he might cause the other male to break down, “look it’s going to be ok, I mean after they take it out you’ll be as…”  
“Kevin”, Edd said quietly, “I…..would appreciate it if we didn’t talk about this right now”.  
“Oh…yeah, sorry about that”, said Kevin finally looking back at Edd who continued to look back at the sea. Suddenly their sight was bombarded by Johnny 2x4’s naked body rushing towards the cold waters. Hyped up on sugar, the loony kid hooted and hollered as he ran right in until he met the deep end. He placed plank into his mouth and doggy paddled around in circles in the clear blue water. Kevin frowns a bit, “dude seriously?”  
“BONZAI” Ed yelled running out towards the sea in his birthday suit and jumping in cannonball style.  
Kevin grumbled at the scene and turned toward the sound of rustling next to him. What he saw made his entire face turn red, “wh..wh..what are you doing?”  
Double D had taken off his shirt and was now in his boxer shorts, he then took off his hat and tossed it into the fire. He watched his signature hat burn for a bit while combing his hand through his shoulder-length black hair. He looked over at Kevin’s shocked expression and smiled, “you only live once Kevin”. With that he took off running to the sea to join his friends, he was joined by Rolf and Sarah pulling a reluctant Jimmy right behind her.   
Kevin sat where he was watching everyone splash and play around in the cold water, “wow, what’s in those soda’s?”

Naz chuckled, “dude I don’t know”, she rushed over to where Kevin was and finished her drink, “but I’m going in”. In an instant, she removed her top and bottoms causing Kevin to blush for the second time that night.  
“come join us Kev,” said Naz, when he looked back at her, to his slight amusement she was wearing polka dot boxers and a white training bra. Now that he had a full look at her, he had to admit she looked kind of weird.   
“No way”, Kevin said stifling a laugh, “that water’s too cold”.  
“excuses, excuses” Naz moved in front of him and gave him a sly grin, “Double D’s having a blast out there, you sure you don’t want to join him?”  
The blush remained on his face as he chanced a glance at the now very wet Double D playing with Ed, “uh…well….”  
“well get in there already”, Naz said crossing her arms, “we don’t know what will happen to him or if he’s ever coming back, Arizona is really far away. So you might want to take advantage of this moment, you might not get another”.

As Naz walked away from him his gaze shifted to where Eddy was noticing that the shorter male was not in the water. Instead, he was off to the side holding a large jar of quarters and counting the contents inside, “what a freak”. He went back to looking at Edd and smiled watching the other boy frolic and play with the other kids. Naz was right, this might just be the last time he will ever see him. He wasn’t sure what it was he was feeling for the adorable dork, all he knew was that he wanted to spend as much time with him tonight as possible. He stood up took off his shirt and pants and ran towards the water where his friends were.

He made eye contact with Double D and the other male shouted to get his attention, “JUMP IN KEVIN, JUMP, JUMP, JUMP”. This encouraged the other kids to chant the same thing, soon everyone was looking to Kevin to jump in with them. Kevin turned around and ran away from the sea to get a good head start. He then took off towards the large body of water and leaped in causing his friends to cheer. He swam towards Double D and came up behind him. In a shocking move, he wrapped his arms around the other boy's waist, lifted him up and dunked him back in the water.   
Double D came up for air and panted sending a glare directly at Kevin, “why you..” he splashed the redhead in the face and tried to dunk him in the water but the other boy was too strong for him and pushed him into the water again. This resulted in one of the biggest splashes fights the kids had ever seen. Thankfully it ended in laughter between them and the other kids. 

The cul de sac kids stayed at the beach for another hour or so before heading back home. They each wished Edd a safe trip and good luck on his surgery. Kevin walked him home after he separated from Ed and Eddy. There was so much he wanted to say to the other boy but he knew that telling him would probably be a waste of time since it was clear this might be a one-way trip. He walked Edd up to the door and the two stood there at the doorway while Edd looked for his keys. 

Kevin rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “so I guess this is it, Ed and Eddy seeing you off tomorrow?”  
“Of course,” Edd said turning to the redhead, “it’s the only time I will ever see him wake up early during the summer”. He looked over at Kevin’s face, and grew a bit concerned, “Kevin? Is there something you…..”  
“I like you”, Kevin blurted out to the surprise of both of them, “I….I know that I’m always calling you a dork or a nerd or a spaz, but the truth is you’re actually kind of cool. You’re always nice to everyone and you’re super smart, and……” he was babbling, he had no idea why he suddenly decided to tell him. Perhaps the boys' departure was finally starting to dawn on him forcing him to confess.  
Edd blinked a few times before quirking an eyebrow, “you called me a spaz? That’s a new one”.  
“yeah that one was behind your back” Kevin chuckled a little. He gave Edd a very somber and serious look, “ you were……you are a good friend Edward, you’ve always been one to all of us”.

[Well shit.]

Edd’s eyes started to tear up a bit and he looked down at his feet trying to compose himself, “thank you Kevin……you’re my friend too”. He closed the distance between them and gave Kevin a hug. The redhead hugged him back but when Edd tried to pull away Kevin continued to hold him close. He didn’t want Double D to go, he wanted him to stay, he wanted this whole ordeal to just be part of another one of Eddy scams. If only he knew for sure that Edd would be ok and come back to the cul de sac happy and healthy, letting him go would have been so much easier. He finally released Edd allowing him to wipe away the tears in his eyes, Kevin looked at him fondly as he tried to clean his face.

“Goodness Kevin, you’re just full of surprises tonight are you? Said Edd regaining his composure.  
“If anyone asks this never happened”, said Kevin playfully punching his arm, “one word to anyone and I’ll fly down to Arizona and pound ya”.  
Edd chuckled and turned to unlock his door, “my lips are sealed Kevin….goodnight”.  
“Night Double D,” said Kevin turning to go home, “be safe”. He walked further away from Edd’s house, he then turned around to look at him one last time but the boy was already inside the house. He looked at the door for a moment and silently said, “come back to us Double D”.


	2. Reunion

3 years later

During freshman week, the students would welcome the newcomers to their school through a series of pranks and random acts of assault. After having trash dumped on them, Eddy and Kevin got into a fight which resulted in Kevin dumping Eddy in a trash can and kicking him down the hill next to the school. A few of the older students found the moment entertaining, this was the start of Kev’s career as one of the jocks. The kids of the cul de sac were instantly separated into the groups they will be occupying till the end of high school. Naz got along great with some of the girls on the cheerleading team and after a year joined them officially. Rolf, to everyone’s surprise, was accepted by the goths. They pretty much admired his sense of individuality and how he seemed to be repelled by those who catered to the social norm. Plus, his hatred for trendy and colorful clothing matched their own, he was a perfect fit. Jimmy and Sarah got along great with the drama freaks and Johnny moved away right after middle school. Ed and Eddy stuck together and continued to stay in contact with their ill friend. Edd’s tumor was removed but he had to go through years of therapy and even started going to school for 2 years over in Arizona. They were excited over getting to see him again. His parents were coming back to the cul de sac to be closer to their work and their at-home lab. For them, it was back to business as usual but for Edd, it was the homecoming he was looking forward to for a long time.

Edd had arrived in town last night but he didn’t tell his best friends he was there, he wanted it to be a surprise when he showed up at school today. His hair grew over the scar in the side of his scalp but it was cut very short with a mop of long black hair covering his left eye. He believed they called it an angular fringe but he just called it a “rather charming haircut”. It gave him that cute yet edgy look that he felt suited the brand new Edd. He fussed with his hair in the front, moving some of the hair back and wondering why he didn’t just go for the mohawk instead. 

[Because despite myself I actually want to retain as much hair on my scalp as possible.]

He checked the rest of his outfit, he was dressed in a black vest with a white shirt underneath. Baggy black jeans with a silver chain hanging from his pocket and hooked up to his belt buckle. He fiddled with his silver bracelets which had been adorned with silver flowers and skulls and tiny bones. He took a deep breath and smiled at his reflection.

[Can’t wait to see everyone again.]

He joyfully made his way down the stairs and to the garage where his red moped scooter was. The ride was pleasant and he caught up to the bus as it arrived at the school.

[Showtime.] 

He was grinning from ear to ear as he made his way to the school steps and entered the building. The other students had just recently made it in and were walking around, conversing with one another and putting things in their lockers. However, when Double D entered the scene it seemed like every eye was on him. He walked down the hall trying to ignore their stares and try to find his friends.

[Honestly, it’s like they’ve never seen a teen boy before.]

“Sockhead?”

Edd looked over in the direction of the voice calling out to him. His eyes lit up at the sight of his best friend, “Surprise Eddy”. He rushed over to the other male and the two shared a hug. 

“Holy shit, when did you get back?” Eddy said releasing him, “and why the hell didn’t you tell me you were coming?”  
Edd was all smiles and adjusted the strap on his backpack, “I wanted it to be a surprise, I flew in last night”.  
“Sweet”, Eddy then noticed his friends attire, “so uh, what’s going on over here?”  
Edd followed Eddy’s eyes to his outfit and blushed, “I felt it was time for a change, what do you think?”  
“You look like an emo dude”, Eddy chuckled as the two walked towards his class.  
Edd rolled his eyes, “oh I do not look like emo”.

[I’m more like a cross between goth and hipster.]

The bell rang halting the two in their tracks, Eddy grumbled and sighed, “dammit, look I gotta bail”. He took out a business card from his back pocket and gave it to Edd, “good to see ya again kiddo, let’s do lunch, ciao”.  
“Um….ok?” he observed the card while Eddy entered his classroom. The card said:

Green serpent energy incorporated.  
Eddy Sampson, CEO/founder.

Edd was confused but smirked nonetheless as he made his way to the principle’s office to get his school schedule.

[Yet another scam I see, some things never change.]

Elsewhere

Kevin enter his math class and sat down in the front row next to Ed who was doodling in his notebook. The other male never could pay attention in class and would often ask Kevin for the answers to exams or even homework assignments. The answer was the usual, “fuck off lumpy”, but that didn’t seem to stop the dimwitted classmate. 

Ed pleaded with him and stuck out his bottom lip quivering it for added effect, “PLEASE KEVIN, I NEED YESTERDAY’S ASSIGNMENT”.  
“you fucking kidding me?” Kevin said frowning at him, “dude you’re here on a daily basis, just pay attention and stop asking me”.  
“Awww man”, Ed rested his head on the desk and grumbled to himself.  
Kevin ignored the idiot, wishing he could switch seats with someone. Math was usually his worse subject, so he was already looking forward to the end of class. He resigned himself to resting his head on his hand and leaning over the desk bored out of his mind. After a while he found himself wondering about the upcoming game….

“DOUBLE D”.

Kevin was jolted from his thoughts at the outburst and raised his head to see Ed squeezing the life out of some kid he must have mistaken for Double dork. After Ed released the goth kid, the redhead was able to get a better look at his face. The black-clad teen addressed Ed joyfully and flashed him a gap-tooth smile. Kevin’s eyes widened as the teen turned and smiled at him, “Double D?”

“Salutations old friend,” said Edd moving over to Kevin’s desk and giving him a small hug.  
The redhead blushed and quickly looked around him, “ok, ok knock it off. I don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea”.  
Double D was undeterred by the action, maintaining his happy smile, “my apologies Kevin”. He turned back to Ed, “oh, is Naz here too? What of Johnny and Rolf? What about Sarah and Jimmy? How are they? I’ve so much to catch up on”.  
Ed hugged him again, unable to contain himself, “let’s sit together at lunch, I’ll tell you all about it”. The teacher walked into the classroom and quietly chided the teens for being out of their seats. Ed quickly let go of his friend and Double D made his way to the desk next to Kevin’s.  
The other teen observed him for a bit before saying something, “soo…..what? you’re emo now?”

[Why does everyone keep saying that?]

“I assure you I am far from it”, said Edd sighing while taking out his notebook.  
“I’m not complaining or anything”, said Kevin looking at the board, “just something I noticed, it….it looks good on ya”.  
“Oh um..thank you, Kevin,” said Edd opening his notebook.  
“Whatever”, said Kevin taking out his own notebook, he couldn’t help but take another glance at the other male. Edd really did look good, his hairstyle made him look adorable and the black attire gave him a somewhat edgy and mature look. He shook his head a bit trying to focus on the math problems the teacher was writing on the board. He was glad to see Edd after such a long time, perhaps he’d get that second chance he’d been waiting for. Kevin tried to hide his smirk and tried even harder to keep his NSFW thoughts at bay. 

If there was anything lurking in Kevin’s head Double D hadn’t noticed. He gave the redhead a quick smile while focusing his attention on the board. As he started to take notes the classroom door opened. His eyes shifted from the board to the door and he suddenly found it impossible to focus again. 

“So sorry I’m late, I just got back from Mulan”, said the handsome stranger.  
“That’s fine Nathanial have a….” said the teacher frowning at him.  
“I drank soooooo much, I mean holy shit”, said Nathanial laughing while making his way to his desk, “fucking put me on dialysis right now, my kidneys are screaming”. This earned a chuckle from his classmates including Edd.  
“Stop making a scene and sit down”, said the teacher annoyed.  
“Yes mistress”, Nat chided as he sat in his seat. He opened his book bag and looked over to the student next to him which just happened to be Edd, “well hello there dark and lovely, where’ve you been all my life”.  
Edd blushed and quickly turned his attention back to the board, “uh…um…..hi, I..I’m Edward, but my friends call me Double D”.  
“Enchante”, Nat gently grabbed Edd’s hand and gave it a soft kiss. Edd smiled from the extra attention, as the teacher began to start her lesson Nat leaned over to Edd and whispered in his ear, “hope we chat again soon, my dear”.  
“Looking….f….forward to it,” Edd said quietly avoiding eye contact, it was the only thing keeping him from turning into a giggling stuttering mess. Despite this he could not stop himself from smiling, first, he reunited with his best friends and now he was being hit on by a really hot guy.

[Best first day ever]

He was suddenly jolted from his thoughts when something wet hit the back of his neck. He turned briefly and was greeted by a scowling, incredibly large teen dressed in a football jacket, “what are you staring at emo freak”. Edd quickly turned back to look at the board, trying to ignore the sudden glare of negativity burning a hole in his back.

“Perhaps I’ve spoken too soon”


	3. Chapter 3

It was finally lunchtime and the cafeteria was abuzz with activity. Edd managed to make through the first half of his day without incident. Well with the exception of getting shoved out of the way while exiting math class. It looks like Reggie Smith would be his designated bully for the next 2 years, making sexist comments behind his back during Math and pushing past him on purpose in the hallway. 

[Wow a bully, a potential love interest and wacky best friends, I’m just checking off all the boxes of your typical teen drama movie, aren’t I?]

He sighed as he walked through the cafeteria to get in line. He picked up his tray when he heard someone laughing from the corner of his eye. Two tables down were Nat, he was surrounded by 5 other very fashionable teens. The members of his entourage were engaged in conversation with one another, texting and taking selfies. Nat’s attention was on one of his friends, they were in a very enthralling conversation about god knows what. Edd blushed and accidentally ran into the guy in front of him.

“Watch it sockhead”, said Eddy while reaching for a pudding cup.  
“s..sorry Eddy” Edd whispered out as he eyed Nat. He then looked in front of him, “oh Eddy where did you come from?”  
Eddy quirked an eyebrow at him, “I’ve been standing here for the past 10 minutes. Our lunch ladies like a hundred. Pick up the pace grandma”.

Edd’s eyes briefly connect with Nat and he gives him a small wave. Nat returned it with a wink and the two maintain eye contact for a few more seconds before the kid behind Edd pushed her tray into his back to encourage him to keep moving. Edd quietly apologizes and moves forward only to be confronted by Eddy’s manic grin. “what?” Edd asked noticing that Nat’s eyes still lingered on him.

“No fucking way,” said Eddy with an amused tone in his voice.  
Edd picked up a slice of pizza and low-fat milk, “what?”  
“You and Nat? are you shitting me?” Eddy said picking up his slice and getting even more excited.  
Edd rolls his eyes and followed Eddy to the fruit cups, “I don’t know what you mean”.  
Eddy skipped the fruit, he had already picked up a small cup of fries and was grabbing some napkins, “you just got here and already you’re macking on one of the coolest kids in school”.  
“Is he?” Edd followed Eddy back to their table where Ed was already sitting, punching holes in his pizza with his tongue, “don’t play with your food Ed”.  
“I like eating the middle of it Double D”, Ed said while punching another hole in his mutilated slice.  
“What do ya mean, is he?” Eddy sat opposite his friends, “hell yeah he is, he has his own youtube channel where he travels around the world and talks about all the best places to eat and reviews hotels”.  
Ed ripped his pizza in half and munches on one of the pieces, “I like his video on cheapest places to eat in Disney land. He was on the dumbo ride.  
“ Shit, That kid’s making bank on patreon, has a shit load of sponsors and all sorts of shit,'' said Eddy opening his milk, “I approve”.

[And the award for the most uses of the word shit in one sentence goes to…….wait a minute.]

“you approve?” said Edd  
“yep, he’s rich, he’s handsome, he’s rich, he’s cool” said Eddy sticking a straw in his milk, “he’s fashionable, he’s rich, he’s rich”.  
“Honestly Eddy,” said Edd frowning at him.  
“I knew your sexuality would pay off someday,” said Eddy, his demeanor growing more excited, “all we gotta do is sit back and bask in our new youtube lifestyle”.

[Oh yes, that’s how it works, everyone gets rich because you’re dating a Youtuber. Seriously Eddy?]

“Eddy stop,'' said Edd getting annoyed, “we don’t even know if he truly feels the same way”.   
“Really?” said Eddy giving him a sly look, “ok, do me a favor. Look at him and see what he does”.

Edd rolled his eyes but decided to humor him. Nat was eating while one of his friends continued to talk to him. He didn’t look back at him, his attention diverted to Naz who approached his table and excitedly spoke to him while Kevin passed them both and went off to the corner of the room to sit by himself. Edd turned back to Eddy with an answer, “was something supposed to happen?”

Eddy turned around and noticed Naz and Nat talking, “dammit, he was supposed to look back at you. Where’s the flirty wink? Where are the seductive glances? Where’s the knowing smirk? That’s what you do when someone you like is looking at you? For example….” Eddy stops to look off to the side where the captain of the cheerleading team, Megan, was sitting with her team. They were giggling and gossiping amongst one another while shooting glances at Nat and Naz. Megan noticed someone staring at her and turned to Eddy giving him a confused expression. Eddy winked at her in a flirtatious manner and gave her a cocky smile. Megan gave him a look of disgust and rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore the freak and continue her banter with her friends. 

Eddy’s confidence deflated for a second before he recovered and looked over at Edd again, “she’s just playing hard to get. Can’t risk making her friends jealous over nabbing the hottest guy in school”.  
Edd chuckles, “oh no we certainly can’t have that”. Ed joined him in his reverie as they laughed. Edd looked over at his friends with a satisfied smile.

[I never realized just how I missed this.]

The rest of the lunch period went by without a hitch and he separated yet again from his friends. The bright side was that they promised each other that they would all meet at Edd’s house for video games and snacks. The rest of the day was uneventful, with the exception of a few instances with Reggie. He managed to get through the rest of the school day avoiding him. He practically skipped to the entrance of the school and sped off towards home. when his friends arrived he was waiting for them outside the garage. they then decided to alter their plans a bit because Eddy couldn’t wait to let Double D know what he was up to.

Eddy casually put on his shades, even though it was a cloudy day and an hour away from being a rainy one, “yep, that’s right boys, Eddy “the boss” Sampson has gone legit”.  
“you’re kidding,'' said Edd, “you mean this isn’t yet another scam?”  
“honest Double D,” Ed said walking up behind them as they made their way to Eddy’s house, “Eddy’s a new man”.  
“I’ll believe it when I see it,'' said Edd grinning.  
Eddy broke out into a manic smile. “remember the sports drink I invented”.  
Edd quirked an eyebrow, “you mean sugar coma cola? wait…..that was an energy drink?”  
“GREEN SERPENT ENERGY DRINK”, said Eddy, “it’ll melt your insides”. Edd gave him a weird look forcing Eddy to respond, “what? It’s funny……it’s called dark-humored marketing, look it up”.  
Edd rolled his eyes, “that’s not what it’s called”.  
“Anyway,” said Eddy as they approached his house, “let me give you a tour of the facility”.  
“But we’ve already been to your house…..” Edd was interrupted by his loud friend.  
Ed lifts his smart friend into his arms and places him on his shoulder, “you’re in for a treat Double D, I’ve been taking this tour for the past 16 years”. The three entered Eddy’s home and made their way to the basement. To Edd’s surprise, it was a fully functioning call center environment, complete with about 10 teenaged girls in separate cubicles making phone calls. In the corner of the basement were boxes of the product being organized and carried away by 3 teen girls wearing t-shirts with the products logo on it. 4 young men wearing the same shirts came down the stairs and rushed past the trio also collecting the boxes of product. The 7 teens heading to the staircase and disappeared up the stairs. Ed bounced excitedly, “Double D welcome to Green serpent energy HQ. isn’t it cool? Eddy can now afford to have underaged girls in his basement”.

Eddy cringed, “don’t say it like that, you fucking meathead”.  
Edd looked around the extremely spacious basement and caught the look of the logo, which was painted on the wall to the side of the cubicles. It was an overly muscular green body with the head of a green cobra. It had a white t-shirt on and it was torn due to the enlarged muscles, the words, “Green serpent energy”, floated above its head.

[Unbelievable, he actually did it, Wait didn’t his drink used to be blue.]

“Eddy, this is amazing,'' said Edd looking back at him, “I can’t believe you did all this on your own.''  
“What’s not to believe?” said Eddy grinning at him in a cocky manner, “I’m a fucking genius, always have been, always will be. Check it. '' He leads his friends over to where the boxes are, “that night we spent on the beach was the best idea I ever had. After you left I decided to go to this convention called, “entrepreneurs of the future”, basically it’s where up and coming bosses like me get together and discuss with the head honchos of multimillion-dollar industries to get pointers on how to start their own business. I pulled out all the stops from selling door to door to getting Nat to help me market it on his channel. Hell, I even started selling merchandise on my own private website. Our sales are off the charts, I used the money to set up my own call center where those old-timers who aren’t in tune with the internet can also order by phone”.

Edd was entranced by Eddy’s sudden initiative, “I must say, Eddy, I’m truly impressed. I suppose I just thought you would be exactly where I left you, still scamming kids around the cul de sac.  
Eddy beamed with pride and remove his shades, “times are changing Double D, I guess I just realized that it’s time I changed with it”.  
Edd smiled back, Eddy did change, he had grown to the same height as him and seemed to have lost some weight while attaining some muscle mass. Edd looked back at the logo still marveling at his friend’s fortitude, “how did you manage to get a permit at your age?”  
Eddy looks over at him confused, “a what?”  
“A permit?” asked Edd, “how were you able to get a permit? You’re only 17”.  
“A permit?” asked Eddy  
“you do have a permit for all of this, right?” asked Edd a bit worried.  
Eddy scratched the back of his head, “the fucks a permit?” Edd’s eyes widened.

[Uh oh.]

“Ok”, Edd said trying not to freak out too much, “Eddy, a complex operation such as this requires a permit to be allowed to legally stay in business. I thought you said you went to that convention”.  
“I did,'' said Eddy, “they said some stuff about tax laws and investments, and business laws, you know boring shit”. 

[I knew it was too good to be true.]

“Oh dear” said Edd, “businesses require a business license. It looks like you are going to need someone to take care of that and prepare your taxes when needed. How much are you paying your employees?”  
“$5.50 per hour” said Eddy casually.  
Edd shakes his head looking over at the teens on the phone, “ok, so you will also need someone to handle the books. We need to calculate how much your business is making, if it’s enough you can afford to give your employees more pay”.  
“WHAT?!!!” shouted Eddy, forcing everyone working to turn towards him in confusion, “what are you trying to do, bankrupt me?”  
“they’re below minimum wage, Eddy,'' said Edd, “if you want to avoid getting in trouble with the department of labor, their pay rate has to be at least $11 to $12 per hour”.  
Eddy sighs in defeat, “whatever, so what are you saying? you want in?”

[Of course, I want in, you fucking nutjob, someone’s got to keep you out of jail.]

Edd blinked for a moment, he honestly liked working with Eddy, he just didn’t like scamming every kid in the neighborhood and becoming a social reject. Eddy always did have the most intriguing ideas, it was why Edd would always invent something that would help him execute his scams as safely and efficiently as possible. At least this time around they would be implementing and maintaining something that would last more than just one day. Edd grinned and held out his hand,” I require $14 per hour, plus weekends and holidays off”.  
Eddy broke out into a wide smile and wrapped an arm around his neck in a half hug, “fine, but no holiday and sick pay, I ain’t running a fucking charity”.  
“Deal”, said Edd beaming.  
Ed engulfs both of them in a hug and lifts them off the floor, “THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN”.  
“Indeed,” said Edd, “Eddy will come up with the plans, Ed will do the heavy lifting and I will focus on making sure you don’t get fined and or arrested”.  
“Just like old times” Eddy laughs.

The Ed’s decided to head to Edd’s place to discuss their business plans in more detail. Once they arrived they were greeted by Edd’s mom and dad doing something they had never seen before. His mother was cooking dinner, and his father was sitting at the dining room table reading the paper. The Ed stood there at the kitchen entrance, two of them not being able to stray away from the odd scene. His mother’s black hair was done in a bun, she was wearing a red apron and hummed a happy tune as she leaned down to open the oven. As she slowly retrieved the pot roast she was baking, she rested it on the stove and turned her head cautiously, “Edward dearest, i ...is that you?”  
“Yes mother”, said Edd quietly.

“Welcome home son,” said his father, the dark-haired male rested his paper on the table and adjusted his glasses to give Edd his undivided attention. He then noticed Ed and Eddy were there and his face lit up, “oh my goodness, honey, his friends are here”.  
Edd’s mother gasped and turned around smiling brightly at both of them, “Oh thank goodness. Ed, Eddy, it’s been so long, how are your parents?”  
Eddy forced a smile, starting to feel awkward from their over-exuberant welcome, “um...fine, mom said she was going to visit you guys just to see how you’re doing”.  
“Wonderful,'' said Edd’s mother. “isn’t that wonderful dear?”  
“Absolutely,'' said the father, “we look forward to her visit”.  
While Ed and Eddy began to wonder what alternate dimension they just wandered into, Edd decides to move things along, “we’ll be heading to my room now mother if that is ok with you”.  
His mother took off her oven gloves and went over to him, she then cupped his face with both hands and smiled down at him lovingly, “you may do whatever you like, my precious treasure”. She kissed him on his forehead and hugged.  
“We love you very much, Edward”, the father said getting up from his seat and also wrapping his arms around him in a hug, “and don’t you forget it”.

[Fucking kill me.]

“um……………...ok,” said Edd slowly prying himself from his parents suffocating hugs. He managed to get away and headed to the staircase followed by his friends. Once they got to his room, Ed and Eddy sat on Edd’s bed while Double D sat on a computer chair.  
“Did anyone else feel extremely awkward back there?” said Eddy leaning against the headboard.  
“ They have been that way since we got back”. said Edd, “they decided to work from home in the downstairs lab. Mother seems to be auditioning for the next Martha Stewart and father has been acting like some kind of 1950’s sitcom dad. It’s all been quite peculiar.

Ed laid fully on Edd’s bed and stared happily at the ceiling, “hey I thought you said you were going to live in Arizona”.  
“They changed their minds halfway through,'' said Edd, “I’m not complaining, but it was still a bit odd”.  
Eddy quirked an eyebrow at him,” what’s so weird about that?”  
“well, first the home we were staying in burned down,'' said Edd, “it was so sudden I don’t think we even had time to process it. Next thing I knew we were staying at a motel outside of the neighborhood and my parents seemed on edge. The company they were working for also closed down, forcing them to work from home”.  
Ed raised up, his curiosity peaked, “why?”  
“some sort of computer virus completely fried their software,'' said Edd, “it also spread to their sister location in Las Vegas”.  
Eddy shrugged, “well I’m not complaining either, with you here it’s business as usual. so what’s the plan sockhead?”  
“First, before we do anything, I will look into getting us a permit,'' said Double D swinging a little in his computer chair, “you may have to halt your activities for a bit”.  
Eddy frowned, “seriously?”  
“It’s a safety precaution, “ said Edd, “just until you get the permit. It should only take me a few days. I know someone in Arizona who might be willing to give us a hand with that”. He then remembered that it would probably be best if their plan was written down. He looked over at his computer desk and picked up the notepad and pen resting there. he then began to write in it, “second, we’ll…..”  
“I know, I know, raise the pay for the employees,” said Eddy groaning.  
Ed waved a judgemental finger at Eddy, “it’s the right thing to do Eddy”. this made Eddy groan even louder.

Edd grinned at this before continuing, “how about this? we give everyone a raise and keep an eye on the numbers. if Nat is promoting you on his channel then there should be no problem in regards to sales... we can also market this to college students along with those still in high school and see how that works out”.  
Eddy thought about it for a moment before nodding, “sounds good so far”.  
Edd continued writing, “thirdly……” he was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door, “who is it?”  
“It's me sweetheart”, said the feminine voice from the other end of the door, “I fully respect your privacy and have chosen not to come in unless given explicit permission to do so”.

[Would she actually be upset if I told her to take her creepy ass back downstairs?]

“Oh for goodness sakes,” said Edd annoyed, “it’s ok for you to come in mother”.  
The door slowly opened and Edd’s mother slowly walked into the room with a tray of cookies and 3 glasses of milk, “I thought you boys could use a snack”.  
“but you just made dinner,'' said Edd confused.  
The raven-haired woman gave him a nervous glance before placing the tray on the computer table, “why yes, yes I have. I know it’s rather unorthodox having dessert before dinner but today is kind of a special day”. She then leaned forward making direct eye contact with Double D, “I can take them away if you want, would you like that my dear?”  
Now it was Double D’s turn to be nervous, “uh...no not after you went through the trouble of bringing them. I’ll just save them for after dinner”.

As if stricken suddenly with a marvelous idea, she turned to the other two teens, “I bet you two would love to stay for dinner, we’re having pot roast with mashed potatoes, their Edwards favorite. I’ll even whip up some extra gravy for you Ed”.  
The two teens smiled as if frowning would mean certain doom, Eddy spoke up, “s..sure, we’d love to”.  
“YAY GRAVY”, said Ed getting over his nervousness for the sake of gravy.  
Edward's mom smiled even wider, as if frowning would mean certain doom, “wonderful, I’ll set two extra plates”. she then gave double D a quick hug, “I will see you downstairs my angel”.  
“y...yes mother”, said Edd, when she left and closed the door it was as if all the tension in the air left with her.

[Why couldn’t we have just gone back to communicating via sticky notes like the old days?]

Eddy breathed a sigh of relief, “We better get downstairs before she comes back up and murders us”.  
“Agreed,” said Edd closing his notepad, “we’ll continue this tomorrow”.


	4. The thickly veiled threat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter looks a little different from the others, I wanted Double D's inner thoughts to be more apparent so I highlighted them in bold letters, while what he is really saying out loud is in normal font surrounded by quotations. Hope you enjoy.

The rest of the week went off without any major incidents. Edd happily thought of this as he walked into his English Lit, then his expression deflated when he saw who was there. Reggie Smith sat in the front row, right next to his assigned seat, the other male glared at him as he passed by and kicked Edd’s desk further away from his. The smarter male sighed and didn’t try to fix the desk back in its original position. He decided to leave it and sat down. The assignment of the day as was written on the board was, “things we would like others to know about us”. The students were given about 10 minutes to independently write down what they would like others to know about them. He quickly went to work, jotting down what he wanted to say, when he was finished he looked at what he wrote and grimaced a bit.

**[Should I really tell them that? How would they react?]**

He knew his bully wouldn’t like it, not one bit. His bully?

**[Well he has assigned himself the arduous task of picking on me. But has not truly grown into his role just yet.]**

Edd grinned a bit finding amusement in this guy using his already wasted energy to expressed to Edd just how much he dislikes him. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, continuing to look at his paper. Reggie grumbled and sent another glare at him, “quite breathing on me, fag”. Edd ignored him and continued to look at the paper, wondering if there was anything he should omit from it. This seemed to annoy Reggie even more, “I know you heard me, emo”.

“Hm? Oh yes hello to you too”, Edd said without really looking at him or acknowledging him further. Reggie whispered something Edd didn’t really catch, it was no doubt offensively homophobic. But it added to Edd’s concern, he had a choice to make, one that would probably make things for him a lot harder than it needed to be. He suddenly looked ahead of him and thought about what Reggie was doing. The male had resorted to flicking tiny paper balls at his desk and a few hit him on his head and shoulders.

**[I wonder if he needs the attention his parents probably never gave him or perhaps he was molested by his uncle and lashes out at those he deems weaker then himself to hide the pain as well as regain some semblance of control in his life, thus reconfirming his manly persona………...or maybe he’s just a huge dick in need of an ass whipping.]**

“Excuse me,” said Edd frowning at Reggie, “could you please stop doing that? It’s annoying and quite frankly incredibly juvenile”.

“Make me, pencil neck,'' said Reggie grinning at him and flicking yet another paper ball onto his desk.

Edd looked at him with a deep frown. He then brushed off the remaining paper balls on his desk and sighed again as Reggie flicked more onto his desk.

**[You know what, I don’t care anymore. I didn’t survive cancer and go through all of that emotional and physical pain just to allow this douchebag to keep me from doing what I wanted. If they want to know about me, there is nothing keeping me from telling them everything.]**

As soon as the timer rang, Edd raised his hand, “I would like to go first if that is ok with you”.

“Nerd alert”, Reggie said, this got a few chuckles from the other students, “seriously? Sucking up to the teacher on the first day?”

“Enough, Reginald”, the teacher said annoyed, “go ahead Edward”.

Edward smiled and went up to the front of the class, “thank you, Ms. Jackson”.

He looked down at his paper and took a deep breath before reading it in a loud and clear.

**_ What_ _most people in this school don’t know about Edward Vincent, by Edward Vincent._ **

_I am friends with just about everyone from the cul de sac but I have two best friends Ed and Eddy. We met when Eddy tried to scam me out of my money by charging me to watch Ed swallow an entire T.V set. I was about to pay but then I freaked out when Ed not only devoured the T.V but also Eddy._

The other students chuckled at this, most of them knew who Ed was by now so it definitely sounded like something he would do.

_Needless to say, it was a rocky start but that plus the fact that we all happened to have the same name but in different variations helped a lot to establish a long-lasting friendship. My favorite food is spinach and chicken pizza but only when I or my mother made it. I don’t have a favorite song and up until recently my favorite things to do were inventing, collecting bug samples and labeling every single item in my room. I don’t really feel the need to do any of those things anymore. Something happened to me a little over three years ago, I became incredibly ill, so my parents took me to see our family doctor. We discovered later that I had brain cancer. This prompted my parents to take me to an institute in Arizona for surgery. After the tumors were taken out I went into remission and the doctors have been monitoring my health ever since._

The whole room went quiet, he had everyone’s attention now. It was weird saying it out loud, he had always called it the sickness, or the illness or something that meant he could avoid the deadly C-word. He also didn’t mention the side effects of the surgery, the random gaps in his memory, the large amounts of time that would go missing, the blackouts, the random changes in personality and motives that came out of nowhere and how overly attentive his parents had become lately. He decided they really didn’t need to know any of that, he took another deep breath and continued.

_I recently came back and I am eternally grateful to the men and women who took part in my care and recovery. They were basically the reason why I am still alive today. While recovering at the institute, I met someone and we dated for about a year and a half before breaking up and going our separate ways. We just decided that we made better friends than a couple. His name was Mike and from what I have heard he is doing very well for himself. This leads me to the last and final thing that no one in this school knows about me but my friends….I’m gay. I came out to my friends when I was 12 and they have accepted me for who I am, I hope you all will too. Thank you._

A few students applauded but others, like Reggie, seemed to be extremely surprised. More and more students volunteered to read their paper seemingly inspired by Edd’s story. It wasn’t like he was the only gay person in that school, but his coming out did make them feel more comfortable about opening up about themselves. By the end, they all had a newfound understanding of one another, just as Ms. Jackson intended. The bell rang to everyone’s disappointment and the class dispersed. Edd made his way to his locker and opened it only to have it slammed closed in front of him. He didn’t have to look up to know who it was, “hello Reggie”.

“Sup nerd,” said Reggie grinning at him, “wow, you know I was only calling you a fag to insult you, but you actually came out in front of everybody. Impressive, I hope you’re not going around doing that everywhere you go. Not everyone is going to be as….” tolerant”…as we are”.

Edd frowned at him but stood perfectly still, “I am very appreciative of everyone’s support.''

**[Go fuck yourself, Reggie.]**

He reached for his locker again to open it only to have it slammed again by Reggie.

**[You fucking asshole, what do you want?]**

“I’ve realized something about you just now,'' said Reggie eyeing him just a tad bit longer than he really needed to, “something that appeals to me in a way, something that makes me feel a bit charitable towards your plight”.

“My plight?” said Edd confused, “w..well I assure you I don’t need…..”

Reggie blocks Edd completely by leaning against his locker, “trust me, you do”.

**[This motherfucker.]**

Reggie flashed him a more flirtatious grin, which made the smaller male grimace. It wasn’t as though Reggie was a bad looking guy, the exact opposite. He was blonde and gorgeous, the type of person one would swear was a supermodel. He was fit with the typical athlete's body, being the head linebacker of the school's football team saw to that. What made him both extremely desirable as well as intimidating was his height which rival Ed’s by a few inches at 6”1. In any other world, at any other time, in any other situation, Edd would have been swooning over him. Instead, it was taking everything in his power not to run for the hills. Reggie reached for the small chain hanging from Edd’s pants buckle and fiddled with it, “in case you haven’t noticed Edward, there’s a certain hierarchy within this school”.

Edd eyed his locker and resisted the urge to look at his watch, “um..the bells going to ring soon…”

Reggie ignores him and continues “there’s the nerds, the Goths, the drama and band geeks, they are at the bottom of the social gene pool. The top is the cool kids, you know the jocks, the youtube celebs, and the cheerleaders. What you did back there shows that you may have the potential to claw your way up from the depths of mediocrity and join us at the top”.

**[Oh my god, what is he getting at?]**

“That’s right my scrawny, moderately attractive friend”, Reggie let go of Edd’s chain and reached up to gently hold his chin forcing the smaller male to look up at him, “I have decided to offer you a way out, a chance to walk amongst gods”.

**[Oh my god, he actually believes his own bullshit. How frightening.]**

Edd pulled away from him cautiously,” first of all, we just met, you’ve no right to”.

“Now, now,'' said Reggie in a condescending tone, “pay very close attention, this is a once in a lifetime deal after all. As I was saying I am willing to offer you a way out. Being gay may come with a few setbacks from the less than woke crowd. There is a lot of bigots out there who hate “your kind”, most of them are on the football team. Plus, gay acceptance seems to be trending these days, those SJW’s really ate up that, “be yourself” bullshit. So you’ve definitely scored some brownie points with them. But you can do better”.

Edd felt anger flare within him, if he had any ounce of muscle within him he would have rammed Reggie’s head right into his own locker. despite this his tone and choice of words were leveled and calm “my sexuality is not part of a trend, it’s not a fad, it is my life and I would appreciate it if you didn’t make a mockery of it…..”

“Shhhhhh, hush my little mouse, here comes the important part,” said Reggie, “you just need a little extra push in the right direction, that’s where I come in. I am willing to go bi-sexual for a few months and go out with you, yes that’s right, I will allow you to bask in the glow of my popularity and while at the same time protect you from the inevitable backlash, for a price. Let’s say you become my personal sex slave from now until graduation”. Edd was livid.

[ **YOU MOTHERFUCKER, NOT EVEN IN YOUR DREAMS, NOT EVEN IF YOU WERE THE LAST ORGANISM ON EARTH, NOT EVEN IF I WAS DYING OF THIRST AND YOU WERE THE ONLY GLASS OF WATER IN EXISTENCE, NOT EVEN IF MY CANCER CAME BACK AND SUCKING YOUR DICK WAS THE CURE. YOU UNRELENTING WASTE OF FUCKING SPERM.]**

Edd hadn’t realized he was shaking, he felt both very nervous and angry at the same time. The rage-filled rant in his head took him out of the moment and now it felt as though he was crammed right back into his own body and into a situation that he didn’t know how to deal with. Finally after a while of trying to figure out what to say he sighed, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried the best he could not anger Reggie while at the same time telling him to fuck off. He took a deep breath and spoke in an even yet shakey tone, “while I appreciate your offer to….” help”…me, I am afraid I must decline”.

**[I’ve only just officially met you and already I want you to die.]**

“As I have said before, my sexuality is not a trend or a fad, it’s my life and I would appreciate it if you would respect that”.

**[I’m not a tool you can use to test whether your gay or not.]**

“As for being cool, I assure you I am perfectly fine with my social standing as it is. I would never under any circumstances degrade myself or drag my integrity through the mud by having sex with you for popularity or notoriety that won’t even extend past high school. It’s absurd and I will not be a part of it. Now please step away from my locker, I am already late for class”.

**[Go stick your dick in a blender, you piece of shit, I’ve got better things to do with my time then to waste it humoring you.]**

Reggie’s smile remained, he stared at Edd for a bit as if reading him very closely. The tension in Edd’s demeanor was building, but he stood his ground, eyes locked with Reggie’s in defiance. Suddenly Reggie’s stare softened a bit, he moved away from the locker and leaned in closer as if he were going to kiss him. Instead, he whispered in the smaller males ear, “allow me to open it for you”.

In one swift and sudden motion he turned and slammed his fist into the locker bending the door completely and breaking it off its hinges. Edd backed away terrified by this, he looked to either side of him and noticed that the halls were practically empty. The few students who were on their way to class saw what happened and quickly rushed along their way, hoping they weren’t noticed. He turned to Reggie and noticed that the taller male was rubbing his fist in a calm manner. He turned to Edd again and smiled at him, “Now that I think about it, this is probably a lot for you to take in within a week. I’ll give you until next Friday to decide. Until then good luck….oh and welcome to Peach Creek high”. He blew Edd a small kiss before sauntering away.

Edd looked at his mess of a locker, stunned, all the energy was instantly sucked out of his body causing him to slowly lower himself to the floor. he then sat there as his breathing became labored, he didn’t know why he was so out of breathe. All he knew was that the floor was where he wanted to be right now, at least until he calmed down and got his breathing back under control. He had no idea what to do, did anyone else see that psychotic display? Did anyone even care? After what seemed like forever he finally calmed his breathing and slid himself across the floor until he backed up against the wall. leaning against it he contemplated what to do next. He opted to skip class and take a quick trip to the principal's office. There was no way he could continue on with the day as if nothing happened, he had to report this. He shakily stood up and tried to ignore the anxious feeling he still had as he made his way down the hall towards the office.

**[Note to self, stay as far away from that psycho as possible.]**


	5. Countdown to doom part 1

Monday

  
  


The countdown to doomsday had begun for Double D but he was determined not to give in. All he had to do was avoid Reggie. He intended on doing so for as long as possible. Edd entered the main hall of the school looking around him. He looked to his right and noticed Naz and a couple of other students talking and excitedly about nothing he could not understand at the moment. He looked to his left and noticed some more random students, some were putting stuff into their lockers, some were rushing to their classrooms, and others were just standing around in the midst of their conversations. The coast was clear, he inhaled and exhaled before stepping further into the hallway. Ed and Eddy gave him a concerned look as they stepped into the hallway along with him.

“Uh, Double D?” Ed asked stepping in front of him, “ who are you looking for?”

Edd mustered a smile for his concerned friend, “oh, no one, I was just making sure that the…..uh...floors were waxed properly”. He looked down on the floor, pretending to inspect it before dramatically turning around and giving them both a thumbs up, “ yep, we are cleared for take-off gentlemen”.

Eddy laughed removing his shades, “classic sockhead”, he walked past his friends but turned to them again briefly, “see ya at lunch”.

“Yeah laters guys”, said Ed

Double D waved to his two friends with a smile but suddenly realized just how alone he really was. He couldn’t tell his friends about Reggie, Eddy might escalate the situation making things worse and there was no telling what Ed would do. The two would probably try to spend their every waking moment protecting him, which was something he never wanted anyone to do. Since it’s impossible to protect him all the time even attempting to do so would be a waste of time.

  
  


**_“Besides, the new me can handle any obstacle”._ **

He was hyping himself up and he knew it. His confidence took a nosedive ever since the locker incident. He walked toward his new locker and opened it to reveal a full-body mirror. He reported the incident with Reggie to the principle but had no idea if anything was being done about it in addition to getting a new locker. Was Reggie going to be reprimanded? Were his parents going to eventually meet with Edd’s parents to discuss his behavior? Were their parents even going to know what took place? Who knows? 

**_“But at least I got a brand new locker out of the ordeal”._ **

Double D’s mood darkened for a bit as he examined himself in the mirror. He went with a simple light gray long-sleeved shirt, black leather pants and black sneakers. He analyzed his outfit while putting on a silver cross around his neck he pulled from his book bag and topping everything off with a black fedora. 

**_“Seriously, why the hell is that psycho allowed to walk free, just because he’s the mayor’s son? That’s all kinds of bullshit”._ **

He sighs and slams the locker door, he then makes his way to homeroom.

**_“I swear to god if he comes near me with that shit again, I am going to stab him in the face with a pencil, gouge his eyeballs out, and shove them up his rectum so he can watch me KICK HIS ASS”._ **

He stopped at the door and suddenly had a very depressing thought. 

**_”who am I kidding? I will do no such thing, ugh I’m such a pussy”._ **

__ The reality of it was he had zero muscle mass, no fighting skills or self-defense training, became easily anxious under highly pressured situations and even though he had become more assertive recently he was still no way near ready for an actual fight. All he could do for now is stick to his guns and hope that Reggie would realize that no means no and leave him alone. He walked into his homeroom class and approached his desk, his eyes widened as he noticed a small piece of paper with a rose on top of it. He was confused at first and looked around the room for a bit. He blushed as a few of the other students in the room noticed the note too and chuckled and whispered, probably wondering who his new secret admirer was. He picked up the note and rose and smiled a little. He wondered if it was from his crush but in a way kind of doubted it. He wasn’t really sure if the feeling was mutual. Edd took a look at the note and became very confused. It said, “4 days” on it in big bold letters, he thought about it for a moment while smelling the rose. His eyes drifted to the open door and his blood instantly ran cold. Staring back at him with a wide grin on his face, was Reggie, leaning against the door frame. 

“Sup goth queen”, said Reggie sarcastically. This earned a chuckle from the other students, he walked into the classroom and closed in on the shorter male, forcing Edd to back up against his desk. From the outside, it looked as though he was attempting to be flirtatious, but in reality, he was stalking his prey, “I see you got my gift, think of it as my way of saying I’m sorry for the whole locker thing”. He lowered his voice to the point that only Edd could hear, “if you haven’t noticed yet, I don’t handle rejection too well. So how about you just give in to my demands now so we can avoid any further moments of unpleasantness. You don’t want to make me mad again, otherwise next thing I fist won’t be a locker”. 

“What the hell are you doing back here, Reginald”.

Both teens turned to the door where a security guard was standing glaring at Reggie, “you’re not allowed on school premises”.

Reggie flashed her a smile, “I was just checking my desk. I have a book in there I need for an assignment”. He goes to the desk behind Edd’s and pulls out a notebook from it. He then briefly turns to Edd with a smile and pulls up four fingers. The security guard grew impatient with him and tugged on his arm to pull him out of the classroom. 4 days, he had 4 days to make his decision. 

Edd felt his anxiety start to flare up yet again, he slowly made his way around his desk and sat in his chair. He sighed thankful that something was actually being done about Reggie but at the same time nervous about what the consequences for his tattling will eventually be. 

“The fuck was that about?”

Edd jumped in his seat from the sudden intrusion, Kevin appeared seemingly out of nowhere from behind Edd”s chair and stood in front of his desk. Edd sent him a quick glare, “oh for goodness sakes, are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“Answer the question dork” Kevin demanded, “what the fuck was that?”

Edd gives him an annoyed yet confused look, “what are you talking about?”

“Reggie,” said Kevin angrily, “I am talking about Reggie and you. Dude, you’re not actually dating that psycho”.

“ABSOLUTELY NOT” shouted Edd to everyone’s surprise. He hadn’t realized it but Edd had actually stood up and was now face to face with Kevin. Feeling the eyes of the other students in the room, Edd blushed and slowly sat back down, “y...you’ve got the wrong idea, I’m in no way attractive to that blatant bully”.

“Then what was he doing here?” Kevin said.

“He was just being a jerk”, said Edd trying to be patient with his rather hostile friend.

“That’s it?” asked Kevin not letting up, “he just comes in here to be a jerk to you specifically and that’s it? I’m not buying it, dork”.

Edd starts to lose his patience and sits down, “for goodness sakes Kevin, do you honestly think he would want to go out with me?”

Kevin was about to shoot back a comment but stopped himself, “ok, so you may have a point”.

“Why do you care so much about it?” asked Edd

“I don’t give a shit about who you’re dating”, said Kevin taking his seat next to Edd, “as long as it’s not Reggie. Seriously I will kick your ass if I find out you two are banging, there’s something wrong with that asshole”.

Edd gives him a look of disgust, just the thought of it made him want to hurl, “trust me, Kevin, I am more than aware of the type of monstrosity Reggie is, we are definitely not a thing”.

Kevin eyed him for a bit before speaking again, “seriously though, everything alright? He’s not bullying you or anything is……….?”

“Yep”, said Edd quickly interrupting him, “everything is fine, nothing the new me can’t handle”. 

Kevin rolled his eyes, “new you huh? What happened to the old you?”

Edd chuckled, “he got cancer and died, who cares what happened to that dork? Am I right?”

Kevin’s face fell for a bit but he recovered quickly and turned to look ahead at the board, “um….yeah...right”. He couldn’t help to chance a few more glances at Edd, which was surprisingly dark for someone who was always so optimistic.

The rest of the class period went on without incident, it was fairly easy for Edd to calm down and resume his day like normal. He walked through the doors of the cafeteria and found his way onto the lunch line. 

**_“I am starving, I wonder what’s on the menu?”_ **

“Well hey there gorgeous”.

Edd’s eyes widened as he turned and came face to face with his crush, “N...Nat, where did you come from?”

“Sorry about that, didn’t mean to startle you”, said Nat chuckling a little.

Edd chuckled too, but had no idea why, “S….so, you come here often?”

Nat laughed a little and regarded him with a genuine smile, “cute”.

Edd blushed a bit, “actually I have been meaning to ask you if you’re going to be at the pep rally this Friday”.

Nat’s mood fell a bit as the two stepped forward in the line, “unfortunately, yeah, I’m part of the young leaders of peach creek program. We pretty much have to be there to help with the preparations and cleanup. Personally, though I would rather be at home jerking it”.

“Wouldn’t we all”, said Edd and soon regretting it seeing Nat lean in a bit closer to him.

“Let me know if you ever do,'' said Nat smiling at him flirtatiously, “I would love to watch”.

**_“Oh my god yes, join in anytime”._ **

Edd quickly turned around feeling his entire face heat up, this conversation was turning into something he was not ready for, “I’m sorry that was a bit too much for me”.

Nat wrapped his arms around Edd and whispered in his ear, “perhaps after the pep rally you could help me with some ...extracurricular activities”.

“uh ...w...well..I..I..would…”Edd stammered and shiver a bit from the touch.

**_“Curse my teenage libido”._ **

Both teens were shoved forward by an unusually agitated jock, breaking whatever spell Edd was under. Nat released him and both teens turned to glare at the redhead as he passed by. Kevin simply glared back and skipped Edd in the lunch line.

**_“Fucking cock blocking son of a ….”_ **

“We should talk later”, said Nat, “wouldn’t want to hold up the line”.

“Or we could exchange numbers,'' said Edd moving up in the line and grabbing a tray.

Nat smiled, “works for me”.

Edd picked up a burger and fries from the line up of food and placed it on his tray, he then exchanged his phone with Nat and the two dialed in their phone numbers. After picking up their food they headed to the same table. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t sitting with his friends, they would have to make do without him for one day. The two teens engaged in playful banter with one another before they exchanged numbers. By the end of their conversation and the end of lunch had not only volunteered to help with the pep rally but also revealed he would be attending the after-party this weekend. 

**_“How the hell did that happen?”_ **

Edd thought about this as he left the cafeteria, he walked Nat to his home economics class before making his way to his math. Regardless of whatever spell he was under, it didn’t matter, he was amazed by himself at how quickly he was able to make a connection with his crush. He actually had a date with Nathaniel Goldberg, he began to think about what he was going to wear as he maneuvered his way through the busy hallway. Hopefully, he can make it through the week without any further incidents. Suddenly someone pushed past him roughly shoving him into another locker. He turned around to see who it was.

**_“What a shocker, another jock”._ **

The taller male glared back at him before murmuring something under his breath and continued walking until he was met up with two other men, no doubt part of the same football team. They said something to each other before they shot a look of disgust his way. Edd took a few steps back before turning on his heels and slowly walking away. There was a nervous, uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him that his problems were just beginning.

  
  



	6. #countdowntodoom part2

**Tuesday**

  
  


This was an ordinary day with one exception, the football team seemed to be watching his every move. More specifically Robert, Jack and Maury, they were known to be rather close to Reggie since their parents were all part of the same fraternity back in their college years. The fourth member of their little group was absent today. The guy who bumped into him yesterday was Carl, Reggie’s best friend.

“ **_He must be out sick today”._ **

Something about that felt wrong, he looked fine yesterday, why would he suddenly be sick today. Edd shook his head as he sat on the bench during gym, there was no reason whatsoever for him to dwell on that jerk. The other three jerks in question were passing through the gym towards the door on the other side leading to the field. Kevin walked behind the group and made slight eye contact with Edd. The smarter male gave him a welcoming smile, which he returned in the form of a smirk before moving up to catch up with his team.

“Psst”

Another body invaded his personal space, nudging up next to him, Edd attention turned to the intruder, “Eddy?”

“Shhhh” Eddy looked around hi, making sure no one heard him, “quiet sock head, someone might hear you”. He took off his shades and whispered to Edd in a hushed voice, “you got the goods?”

“The goods?” asked Edd.

“Yeah, you know, the goods”, said Eddy

“It’s a permit Eddy, not drugs” said Edd rolling his eyes, “and yes, I got it”.

“Damn that’s fast”, Eddy smiled excitedly at him, “we sure it’s legit?”

Edd pretends to be offended, “of course, what do you take me for?”

**_“You’re the scam artist here, not me”._ **

Edd looks out onto the gym below when he notices something large and round walking past them with a group of cheerleaders following close behind. Naz and a few of her friends chatted and moved right past the benches. Edd frowned while looking at her.

Eddy also noticed this and had a matching frown of his own, “check out the queen of England over there. She joins the cheer squad and suddenly she doesn’t have time for us mere mortals”.

“Oh I’m sure that’s not true,'' said Edd, “she’s a sweetheart, she’s always been a sweetheart.”

“Rumor has it she’s dating someone from the chess team,'' said Eddy bitterly, “some scrawny dude, who suspiciously looks like you”. His smartphone suddenly rang and he digs in his back pockets for it.

“Seriously?” said Edd, “does he really look like me?”

“Short black hair, gap-toothed, weird-ass looking red sock cap,'' said Eddy as he looked at his phone, “I bet he labels everything in his bedroom like you too”.

Edd watched the peach pit mascot and cheerleader leave the gym, “that’s odd, I always thought she would be with Kevin. I wonder what happened”.

“Nah,” said Eddy scrolling through the messages of his phone, “turns out he’s got a boner for someone else”.

“Weird”, Edd noticed Eddy’s fixation with whatever he was writing, “everything alright?”

Eddy rolls his eyes and puts his phone away, “it’s my mom, she’s flipping out over some amber alert she just received. I mean come on, I got it too but you don’t see me losing my shit over it”.

“So did I but I just ignored it,'' said Edd.

Eddy stood up from the bench, “same, why does everyone always lose their shit whenever a kid is missing”.

“Because they could be kidnapped or raped or god forbid, murdered,” said Edd following him as they made their way down from the bleachers and headed towards the door. They spent the entire gym period hanging out on the bleachers mostly because it’s high school and no one actually gives a shit about gym outside of the fact that it’s needed to graduate.

“Or they ran away from home”, said Eddy moving towards the doors to the locker room, “like the last kid who they reported “missing”, my mom wants me to come straight home after school”.

“Well I wouldn’t worry too much if I were her”, said Edd heading into the locker room, “the cul de sac is the safest place there is, not to mention boring. I bet they’ll find that kid in no time”.

  
  
  


Wednesday

“No fucking way”

Kevin sat down at the kitchen table slowly trying to process what he was hearing. This morning he had intended on checking his phone for the weather but instead got a huge dose of shock. His mother walked into the kitchen dressed in a business suit. 

She walked past him and over to the coffee maker on the counter, “you better hurry Kev, you’re going to be late for school”.

Kevin looked back up at her, “mom, I think one of my classmates died”.

His mother looked back at him in shock while pouring herself a cup of coffee, “you’re kidding”.

“ Listen to this”, Kevin said, turning up the volume on his phone.

“Our heart goes out to the Montgomery family, whoever committed this heinous act will be brought to justice”.

Another female voice was heard after the first one, “for those of you just tuning in, the body of 17-year-old Carl Montgomery was found in Willowbrook swamp 10 miles from the peach creek cul de sac yesterday evening. He was found by a nearby fisherman disemboweled with over 21 stab wounds to the neck and chest. The police are warning parents to keep a close eye on their children until they have found the killer who is still at large”.

“Oh my god,” said Kevin’s mother, her phone then started to ring. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone. She answered, “hey tom…..yeah, he was one of Kevin's classmates…...he’s right here…...of course, he’s going to school, wait a minute hold on”. She rolled her eyes in annoyance and looked over at Kevin, “it’s your father, he’s keeping angela home from school and wants you to stay home to”.

“I can't, I have an exam today”, said Kevin getting equally annoyed.

His mother returns to the phone call, “I get you’re worried but Kevin’s not like Angela…….well, first of all, he’s 17 and doesn’t cry at the drop of a dime…...I’m not bad-mouthing her, UGH OH MY GOD TOM ENOUGH ALREADY. He’ll be fine. I know how to take care of my own son. Why don’t you look after your daughter and the fucking mail order bride you had her with”.

“Mom….really?” said Kevin getting up from the table and grabbing his backpack,

“What? I’m getting tired of him treating me like I’m incompetent”, said Kevin's mom. She addresses her phone again, “I’ll look after my own, you look after yours”. With that, she hangs up and kisses her son’s forehead, “be careful out there red, and have a great day at school”.

“Ok mom”, Kevin gave her a small smile as he left the kitchen, but once he made it out the door he exhaled a sigh of relief. He hated when his parents quarreled, they got a divorce 10 years ago and since then his dad had remarried and had another kid. Even though he was angry at his father at first but now he realized that it was for the best for everyone involved. The two were miserable together and seemed to make better friends than an actual couple. Although Kev had a feeling that his mother might have been just a tad bit bitter over how quickly his father moved on. Which indicated that maybe their separation wasn’t all that mutual after all. Regardless their exchanges always gave him a headache and he always left the room to escape the awkward tension. As he mounted his motorcycle, he thought about the last time he spoke to Carl, they had a falling out and Kevin refused to join him and the rest of his teammates when they invited him to hang out after school.

  
  


**Flashback**

“The fucks your problem Barr”.

Kevin slammed his locker closed and glared at Carl, “I’m not the one with the problem, why the hell would you even think of doing that?”

“It’s called a prank,” said Carl annoyed, “the little bitch deserves it anyway, dumping me for that nerd. It’s embarrassing”.

Kevin gets even angrier and pushes him up against his locker, he then glares and growls in a low voice, “she’s my best friend Carl, you fuck with her, you so much as look at her the wrong way, I’ll shove a football down your fucking throat”. He slams him again into the locker and walks away, “first and last warning, STAY AWAY FROM NAZ”. As he exits the locker he accidentally bumps into Edd, the two stared at one another before Kevin recovers and brushes past him.

Edd gave him a concerned look, “Kevin, is everything alright”.

“Everythings fine,” said Kevin flippantly, he reached the door to the lunch when the sound of Carl's voice made him turn halfway. He stood there and watched Carl approach Edd as he left the locker room. Kevin was ready to run back and knock him out in case he even thought to try anything. However, all Carl did was whisper something into Edd’s ear and walked away. The other male suddenly became very nervous and seemed on edge for the rest of that day.

  
  


**The present**

Kevin drove up to the school and parked his bike in the parking lot, as he dismounted and walked toward the entrance of the school he began to wonder just what did carl whisper to Edd to make him so on edge. Entering the school felt kind of weird, there was a tension in the air that he just could not ignore. Everyone knew, he walked into his homeroom, where Naz immediately grabbed his attention.

“Oh my god, did you hear about what happened yesterday”, Naz said, her eyes were puffy and she looked tired.

Kevin followed her to their seats, “yeah, I saw it on the news this morning. Uh...were you crying?”

“No”, said Naz, she reached into her bag and pulled out a compact mirror. She analyzed her face then sighed in defeat, “would you think I was lame if I said yes?”

“Yep”, said Kevin grinning at her a bit, “come on Naz, I’m not saying you should celebrate but don’t waste any tears on that guy. Trust he’s not worth it”.

“I know”, said Naz leaning back into her chair, “but still we knew each other since freshman year. He was a jerk I’m not denying that but he didn’t start out that way. He used to be sweet before Reggie got his claws into him”. She turned her head a bit to make sure no one was listening to them and leaned toward Kevin, “I heard Reggie was jealous of him and started running for the position of captain. Even his father tried to bribe the coach but he still refused”.

Kevin frowned thinking back to the time when he noticed Reggie making a pass at Edd, “I wouldn’t put it past him, he doesn’t take no for an answer”.

“Do you think he’d…..well”, said Naz drifting off a bit, she didn’t even want to think that someone like that was a student of their school.

“Wouldn’t put THAT past him either”, said Kevin, “the guy is twisted”. He couldn’t wait to see Edd again, they had math and science together. He just had one of those uneasy feelings, either something happened or something was about to happen. Either way, he had to be sure Edd was ok”.

  
  


**Thursday**

**_“Everythings going to be ok, I’m going to be ok. Tomorrow’s just another day”._ **

Reggie’s deadline was tomorrow and it was nerve-racking, he thought of a few options for when he eventually came face to face with his bully. Perhaps he should try to talk to Reggie, perhaps work out another deal. Instead of going out with him maybe he could offer to do his homework.

**_“Oh my god no, absolutely not, what was I thinking?”_ **

That was a terrible idea and he knew it, instead of being one kind of slave he would be another. 

**_“There’s just no other way around it, I’ll have to stand my ground and face whatever is coming my way”._ **

He took a quick glance into his backpack, to his relief the pepper spray his ex-boyfriend gave him was still there, he made a mental note to slip it into his sock tomorrow just in case. What Carl told him days prior only added to his fears.

**_“I was fine until that fucker approached me”._ **

**3 days**

That was all Carl said to him, that was all he needed to say to him. He’s been messed up ever since. He exited the bathroom stall he was currently hiding in and moved over to the since he splashed some cold water in his face and regulated his breathing. It wasn’t like anyone did anything negative to him, it was just that the dreaded day was approaching and he couldn’t concentrate on his studies. Not to mention Carl's death and the fact that his friends keep following him everywhere he went. No matter where he went today, Jack and Maury were always there watching him nearby, when he was at his locker, going to class, in the cafeteria, they were even watching him as he made his way to the bathroom. He could only guess that they were sent by Reggie to keep an eye on him. He considered going to the principle again but last time he checked leering at someone from afar wasn’t a crime. He could go to Eddy or Ed but they would only make things worse and put him on 24-hour guard for the entire week, which was something he did not want them to do. Constantly wasting every single moment of their time watching over him would only serve to make him feel helpless. He stepped out of the bathroom into the crowded hallway and passed by Jack and Maury as they hung out around their lockers. He could catch the faintest hint of the word snitch coming from one of them but he chose to ignore it. 

**_“Fuck you too, I could care less what a group of uncivilized meatheads think of me”._ **

It was dismissed and he was getting ready to walk home with his friends. He made his way over to his locker and opened it to get his jacket. When he closed it Kevin was on the other side.

“What did Carl say to you last Tuesday?”

Edd nearly jumped out of his skin.

**_“Where the hell did you come from? Jesus fucking christ Kevin”._ **

“Kevin, you startled me, do you think you could warn me next time you decide to appear out of nowhere”, said Edd breathing hard.

“Just answer the damn question”, said Kevin sternly, “what did Carl say to you last Tuesday?”

Edd put on his jacket in an effort to momentarily avoid the question, “he...he asked me if I could do his science homework and I said no”.

Kevin wasn’t buying it, “seriously that’s it, cause you seemed really nervous that day. Like he threatened to run you over or something?"

Edd rolled his eyes, “he wasn’t threatening me, I was just agitated that he would ask me to do his work for him”. He fixed himself and regarded Kevin with a look of confidence, or at least what he hoped would pass for confidence, “I mean that’s something a jock would ask a nerd to do”.

Now it was Kevin's turn to roll his eyes, “uh you are a nerd, that’s why he would ask you”.

“I assure you, the new me has a backbone,” said Edd brushing past him.

**_“And ball sacs made of solid gold. That’s right, I can do this, I’ll face Reggie with my head held high”._ **

Suddenly he could feel Kevin grabbing his arm, he was then spun around to face the taller male, “Kevin what are you…..”

Kevin glared at him, “you know, I’m getting pretty sick and tired of you trashing the old you”.

Edd suddenly shot back in an angered tone that caught Kevin completely off guard, “and I’m sick and tired of you constantly bringing him up”. He then yanked his hand away from the redhead and speed-walked away.

**_I don’t have time for you and your dramatic bullshit Kevin”._ **

He walked until he could see his friends in the distance, but noticed there was a third person standing with them. He stopped as he met up with them, “Nat?”

“Hey there tiger,'' Nat said before swooping the smaller male off his feet and bringing him in for a searing kiss.

Eddy chuckled, “whoa whoa whoa, save it for the honeymoon casanova”.

Ed also chuckled, “ooooh double D is sitting in a tree with Nat, how spicy”.

The kiss ended much to Edd’s dismay, but also to his utter confusion, they weren’t actually dating having only just met last week.

**_“Perhaps this is his way of initiating a relationship between us without actually saying it. I better play along”._ **

“Hello yourself, darling,'' said Edd awkwardly.

Nat broke out his smartphone and pulled Edd against his body, the two took a selfie before following Eddy and Ed out the front door. Nat continued to type away on his phone for a bit while Edd conversed with his friends. He then stopped causing the others to stop also, “hey you guys mind being in a video, I’m doing an update for my channel”.

Edd smiled at him, “w..well actually I would rather you di…..”

“HELL FUCKING YEAH”, said Eddy excitedly

“HOORAY, WE’RE GOING TO BE IN THE MOVING PICTURES” shouted Ed

“I’m actually not comfortable with it,” said Edd before he was cut off by Eddy.

“Come on sockhead”, said Eddy, “he’s just doing an update video”.

Nat wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned in, “come on, I wanna show off the guy who rocked my fucking world”. 

He had no idea what Nat was talking about, all they did was talk on the phone a few times and text one another. Edd looked at his friends and Nat and realized it was a 3 against one decision. 

**_“If I refused things might get awkward, would being on camera really be so bad”._ **

He was uncomfortable, incredibly uncomfortable, but he also didn’t want to be that one guy to put a stop to everyone's fun, “I suppose we can, if the video is going to be a short one.''

“Super short baby,” said Nat kissing him on the cheek, he then turns on the recording, “HELLO MY FELLOW BUTT BUDDY’S, Nat the skank here. It’s been a while since I did my last update, yes I am still alive and fucking. The Dubai video will be up tomorrow, I just had to do some re-edits, that’s why it took so long. So that will definitely be up tomorrow for your viewing pleasure. I’m here with the one the only Eddy Sampson, owner of Green serpent energy drink”.

As soon as the camera phone was on him Eddy grinned manically, “that’s right bitches, green serpent energy drink. If you haven’t had one yet, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE? You can hit me up on twitter, #bigdickbiggerdreams, #greenserpent” and show us some love. You can also order from our website greenserpent.com. Seriously buy our shit….

Ed pushed up against him and waved to the camera, “HI MOM, IT’S ME ED, I’m on T.v.”

Nat turned the camera to Edd, “and last but not least, this is Edward Vincent, my brand new beau. Say hello sexy”.

Edd froze for a moment before slowly giving the camera a small wave, “um...salutations everyone”.

“He’s the only guy I know who says salutations to greet someone,” said Nat laughing, “isn’t he fucking adorable”. He then turned the camera back onto himself, “don’t be fooled, he’s a beast in the sack. Anyway my Nat maniacs, comment, like, subscribe, smash that notification button until it screams your name. You can also hit me up on twitter #Natvsworld, Nat the skank out”. He turned off the camera and turned to the other who all had matching shocked looks on their faces, “what?”

Eddy was the first to recover, “um...you two actually”.

“Guys it’s not a big deal,” said Nat, “I just said that for shock value, it’s fine, oh wait here’s my house”. He gave Edd one last kiss on the cheek before leaving the group, “see ya later, stud”. They waited until he was out of earshot before conversing amongst themselves.

“Double D, you fucking dog”, said Eddy, his tone was playful but his face held an expression of shock and uncertainty, “look I know I said to make a move but did you have to move that fast ''.

“I swear I have no idea what he is talking about”, said Edd looking like a freshly picked tomato.

“Are you sure?” asked Eddy, “cause he seems to think otherwise”.

“All we did was talk on the phone”, said Edd, “we didn’t even kiss before today”.

Ed dawned a look of concern, “did he really make that up for shock value?”

Eddy’s body relaxed as he switched back to his old cocky self, “what am I thinking? Of course, he did, there’s no way that Double D would get in bed with someone he just met”. They continued walking but it was in silence, neither of them knew whether they should address the topic further or just leave it alone. Their uneasiness about the situation stayed with them even as they entered their separate homes. They all went to bed that night thinking the exact same thing, perhaps allowing Nat to videotape them was a mistake after all.


	7. D-Day

**_“Everything is fine, I am going to be fine. I haven’t heard or seen him the entire week. Perhaps he got bored and decided I wasn’t worth it”._ **

It was Friday, normally a teen would be glad for the week to end, but Edd wasn’t. He walked into the school as though he were walking onto a battlefield. He wasn’t a student at some normal highschool, he was a soldier going into war. He was scared but after weighing his options he decided that he needed to reject Reggie's offer. No matter which way he thought about it, denying Reggie seemed to be the only thing that would work out well for him in the long run. Even if it meant he was going to be bullied, he had friends, if it became too much for him to handle then he could always rely on them to help out. Edd sighed as he made his way to his locker.

“Sup goth nerd”.

**_“Here we go”._ **

He turned expecting to see 2 large jocks waiting for him, but only saw one, Jack. Edd leaned against his locker and looked over at Jack trying to avoid looking nervous. Jack, on the other hand, seemed a bit anxious, it was clear he did not want to be here.

Jack gave him an agitated look before speaking, “Reggie sent me to get your answer……”

“The answer is still no”, said Edd without thinking.

Jack’s eyes widened and his face took on a look of complete disbelief, “dude, are you serious?”

“I’m serious”, said Edd, “I will not yield to his demands. If he wants to meet with me after school that is fine. I promise I will not flake out”.

“You’re making a mistake”, said Jack getting even more anxious, “that guy is fucking insane, I,,,,, I think”. He wasn’t sure if he should even bring this up. He wasn’t even sure if the rumors around the school were true.

Edd’s demeanor changed from defiance to pure concern, “what is it?”

“Nevermind”, said Jack, “look I don’t know what went on between you two but leave me out of it. The psycho had us tailing you ever since he got himself expelled. He’s fucking obsessed”.

Edd blinked at him for a moment, “so wait, you weren’t on board with his plans?”

“You’re fucking kidding me right?” said Jack in a frustrated tone, “the pep rally is today, the big game is next week and midterms are just around the corner. This weekend I’m visiting a college. I barely have time to take a shit much less follow your skinny ass. Maury, Carl, and Robert had stuff going on too before they disappeared, no one has time for Reggie and his crazy shit”.

“Then…...then why?” asked Edd before being interrupted.

“If we didn’t do what he wanted he would have tried to make our lives a living hell”, said Jack, “we all told him to fuck off at first, but our parents basically work for his family, so he basically had us by the balls”. Jack looked around him for a bit, other people were starting to notice them but idly passed by without a word. 

He looked back at Edd with a serious expression on his face, “Listen, dude, take the fucking offer, whatever it is that he wants you to do, do it. This whole bravery bullshit won’t mean anything when he eventually forces you to kill yourself. I mean it, I've seen him do that to a guy once, hell I wouldn’t be surprised if that is what happened to Robert and Carl”.

“But if I give in…..” said Edd trying not to stutter, this conversation was not helping his anxiety.

“If you give in, he won’t ruin your life”, said Jack getting even more agitated, “we’re in a high school, not a war. We’re not here to start a revolution or make a change or fight for our rights. Just say yes and deal with whatever bullshit he wants you to do”. He backs away from him for a moment, “I’ll let him know your answer but you better change it when you see him this evening or trust me, you are fucked”. He walks away from the anxious teen and disappears into a nearby classroom.

**_“Well that’s not incredibly unnerving at all, give into him, huh? Sorry, but I simply can’t”._ **

Edd opened his locker, took his textbook out and slammed it back close, “bring it on, Reggie”.

The day went on as normal, he went to his classes, met up with his friends at lunch, and basically carried on as though nothing was wrong. He managed to almost forget about the event that might end up making or breaking him. He made his way to the gymnasium where the pep rally was getting set up. He was fine until he realized he would be working on this event with Nat, he meant to talk with him about what happened yesterday. He approached his maybe, maybe not boyfriend and was greeted with a soft kiss.

“Hey baby”, said Nat, some stage crew members looked their way grinning and whispering among each other.

**_“They must have seen the video, oh jeez”._ **

Edd forced a smile and leaned in close to Nat who took this opportunity to wrap an arm around his waist and pull him in even closer, “Nat, can we talk? Alone?”

Nat smiled and kissed his neck causing Edd to involuntarily shiver, “talk? Sure babe. Let’s “talk”. He turned to his friends who were eyeing them with mild interest, “BRB guys”. The two walk towards the door to the gym and through it leading to the men's locker room. It was empty for now so the two were alone. 

Edd turned to Nat, “I wanted to address what…..” he was then suddenly bombarded with a hormone-driven whirlwind named Nat.

The taller male pushed Edd up against the wall and pressed himself against the smarter male. He invaded Edd’s mouth with a passionate hot kiss, allowing his hands to move downward and around to grip his bottom. He breaks the kiss leaving Edd to completely forget why he needed to talk with him in the first place. Nat places a few more kisses on Edd’s neck before unbuttoning his shirt, “we have ten minutes before the jocks get here, so how about a quick little taste of heaven before……”

“OH MY GOD STOP”, yelled Edd finally coming to his senses, “this is not why I called you here”.

Nat stops what he is doing and blinks at him confused, “oh….wait, you mean you  **actually** wanted to talk?”

“Um...yes”, said Edd blushing furiously, “I wouldn’t bring you here of all places to have sex”.

“You sure about that love?” said Nat, he pressed himself against the now hard smarter teen and gave him a sultry look, “you’re kind of a nasty little freak, and I love it. Remember what we did the other night in my car?”

Edd actually tried to remember what he could have done on the said night but he was drawing a blank, “umm……..yeah?” 

**_“I have no idea what the fuck he is talking about”._ **

“Well you left your handcuffs in the back seat,” said Nat reaching into his back pocket. He produced a pair of silver handcuffs with some handwriting on it.

Edd’s eyes widened, those really were his handcuffs but not for the reasons Nat was implying. These were a souvenir he bought at New York Comic Con a few years back and the handwriting was an autograph from Eve Myles who played Gwen Cooper from the BBC Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood. He couldn’t fathom how Nat could have managed to get them if they were never in his room together at some point. 

**_“Well, I can't deny it now. Things might go from awkward to just plain upsetting, especially for Nat. I mean how would I feel if the person I was with gave me a memorable sexual experience and then fails to remember it. I’d be devastated”._ **

Edd accepted the handcuffs and smiled at him, “um...thank you, but I really just wanted to discuss what happened yesterday”.

Nat tilted his head a bit in confusion, “what about it?”

“You posted a video yesterday and…” said Edd before being interrupted.

“Yeah, I got so many hits that day….” said Nat before Edd interrupted.

“I’m not concerned with how many hits you got on it”, said Edd trying to be as straightforward as possible, “what concerns me is the fact that you put it out there in the first place”.

Nat was taken back a bit but quickly recovered and wrapped his arms around him, “but baby, you looked so good on camera, everyone loved it”.

“It’s embarrassing”, said Edd moving away from him, “ I get that you have followers and Eddy got to plug our product but they don’t have to know about everything that goes on between us. I’m just asking you to keep our relationship out of the spotlight. If you want to include me in a video that’s fine but I would appreciate it if it’s just a “let’s play” or a “let’s watch”. Anything that is planned and done with my explicit permission. No more surprise shots out of nowhere or shocking reveals about our sex life, agreed?”

Nat dawns a look of concern, “wow, I didn’t realize I upset you so much, don’t worry, I’ll ask you next time. Kay baby”.

Edd sighed, “thank you, dear”.

Nat quickly recovers and pulls Edd to his body, “now give daddy some sugar”. Suddenly the door to the locker room opens and a few teens start to stroll in.

Edd tries to back away from him but Nat holds him still, “N...Nat, someone is going to see us”.

“What? “ said Nat smirking wickedly, “I’m a YouTuber, I like being watched, OH HEY JOCKSTRAP”. Edd’s eyes widen as Kevin approaches them, seemingly more agitated than normal.

“Just what I want to see”, said Kevin with a look of disgust, “more gay shit”.

“Uh..we were just leaving”, said Edd nervously, he pulled Nat along with him towards the now open door.

Nat blows Kevin a kiss before they exit the room, “and taking our gay shit to somewhere that doesn’t smell like a week old gym bag”.

Kevin grimaced suppressing the urge to throw a glass bottle at the green-haired fool, “I fucking hate that guy. What does Edd see in him?”

  
  


**Later that day**

It was time, Edd packed up the last of his books and exited the classroom. He made his way to his locker and noticed there was a note sticking out of the door. He quickly reached the note before anyone else noticed it, unfolding it to read it. 

_ You, me, locker room, NOW. _

Edd tries to push back the anxious feeling fluttering in his stomach and the bile starting to bubble to the surface. He hugged himself and leaned his back against the locker, he leaned forward a bit to control his breathing. This was happening and it was happening now, he needed to gather his wits before he faced him. He had already told Ed and Eddy to go home without him and the hallways were beginning to thin out as everyone emptied the building. Everyone was leaving for the safety and comfort of their homes except for him. He decided to take this time to calm his nerves and regulate his breathing. By the time he was fully ready the halls were completely empty. He took one last breath, weakly made his way to the locker room and passed out.

  
  



	8. Unanswered Questions

Edd yawned and turned on his side, he tried in vain to return to the pitch-black peaceful existence of slumber but found it next to impossible. His eyes involuntarily fluttered open and he breathed in deeply what he thought would be the scent of lavender oils coming from the potpourri basket he kept on his computer desk. Instead, he got the rough scent of ax body spray and old sneakers. The pungent aroma forced him to open his eyes to investigate, and he immediately jolted up in the bed he was occupying. He looked around the strange room and immediately felt the strong urge to clean and disinfect. The room wasn’t completely trashed but there were a few things in it that made Edd want to reach for the closest broom and dustpan. For starters, he couldn’t fathom why there was a random pile of dirty clothes on the floor directly next to an empty hamper. Why were there a pair of sneakers hanging off of the doorknob on the door to the room? Why did the carpet look like someone took a bag of Doritos and smashed it on one particular spot? Why not the entire floor? Why was this one spot so dirty?

**_“It’s like God decided to throw corn chip crumbs on that one particular spot just to fuck with me”._ **

Edd’s eyes suddenly widened as he began to ask the only question that mattered, “where am I?” he slowly began to get out of bed and just realized that he was in a T-shirt that was too big for him and the same pants he was wearing the night before. He could hear some voices coming from downstairs and decided to see what was going on. The noises were coming from the kitchen downstairs... Since it was just a few feet from where the staircase as he was able to get an ear full. 

“ I don’t know what happened, he was fine back in Arizona”.

“Are you sure? Cause he didn’t seem all that fine last night”.

Edd stood perfectly still in the middle of the staircase. The two people speaking appeared to be his mother and Kevin’s mother.

“ **_Wait, I’m in Kevin’s house? How did I get here?”_ **

“Of course,” said Edd’s mom, “Sheila, I swear, Edward has never acted out before. Now all of a sudden he’s roaming the streets half-naked, past his bedtime and with deadly weapons. I….I…” She stops as her voice becomes strained, she sounds as though she was about to cry, “I’m losing my baby boy and I don’t know what to do to stop it”.

The sound of tissue paper being removed from a box could be heard followed by the sound of someone blowing their nose. Sheila starts to speak again in a stern tone, “well, first of all, you need to get a hold of yourself. Crying about it won’t solve anything”.

“I..I'm sorry, I can’t help it”, said Edd’s mom through the sniffling.

“Second of all, can you think of anything that might have triggered him?”, asked sheila, this was followed by the sounds of sniffling and a nose being blown. Sheila’s tone softens but Edd could tell that she was trying really hard to not get agitated with the raven-haired woman, “think Jane, what happened back in Arizona?”

“That’s just it,” said Jane getting hysterical, “I DON’T KNOW, the tumor was removed and...and..and he just wasn’t the same after that. He stopped labeling the items in his room, he doesn’t respond to any of our sticky notes and he lost his virginity to an 18-year-old”.

“Jesus christ Jane”, said Sheila getting agitated despite her efforts to remain calm, “keep your voice down, the boys are still sleeping”. 

Jane quieted down but continued to cry, “Well I’m sorry but back home it’s like I no longer have emotions”. 

“What do you mean?” asked Sheila confused

Jane whispered trying to keep her crying at bay, “I’m not allowed, neither of us is allowed to be anything else but happy. All the time, day in day out, just happy, happy, happy. I’m losing my mind”.

“Ok, Jane, look at me”, said Sheila after a moment she speaks again, “you’re not making any sense. Just take a deep breath and tell me……”

Suddenly the sound of a door opening causes Edd to nearly jump out of his skin. He rushes back to the top of the stairs and pretends to come out of the bathroom as Kevin sleepily enters the hallway. He walked up to where Kevin was and gave him a small smile, “good morning Kevin”.

“Ngh”, Kevin grunted passing him by to head to the bathroom, he was wearing boxer shorts and a white T-Shirt and scratched his stomach while slowly lurking through the bathroom door. After the door closed behind him, Edd stood in the hallway wondering if he should wait for Kevin to go back to bed before heading for the staircase again to continue eavesdropping. But then he quickly changed his mind when the sound of Kevin peeing invaded the hallway and made him want to cringe. He covered his ears and made his way back to what he thinks might be Kevin’s room. He laid back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling trying to remember what went on last night to have made his mother so upset.

**_“It was probably nothing”._ **

“Then again if it really were nothing then why did she say I was half-naked and had a weapon?”

**_“She tends to exaggerate over the tiniest things. She probably mistook my wallet for a weapon or perhaps my sleeves were rolled up and she flipped out from the sudden showing of skin. She’s such a drama queen, no wonder I fucking hate her”._ **

Edd gasped and rose up into a sitting position on the bed, “oh my, what am I thinking? I don’t hate my mother”. 

**“** **_I must be tired, perhaps I should go home, I am much more comfortable in the safety of my own room”._ **

Edd sighed and rubbed his temple, he was still tired, he checked the clock on the wall of the room, it was 7 am, way too early to be up on a Saturday. Just as Edd was about to get out of bed the sound of loud knocking invaded the room, “um...come in”.

“Are you sure darling?” came the voice of his mother, “I won’t come in unless you…….”

“Oh for fuck sake Jane”, said a very irritated Sheila, she opened the door and marched in, “this isn’t even his house”. She sighed and regarded Edd sternly, “Edward your mothers here to take you home. but first I insisted that we all sit down and have a discussion about what happened last night”.

**_“I have tons of homework to do before the weekends out. If I don’t get started on it soon, I’ll fall behind”._ **

“I..I’m sorry Mrs. Barr”, said Edd timidly, “I have a lot of homework to do and……”

“I completely understand,” Jane intervened sitting next to her bewildered son, “we don’t have to do this now”.

Sheila frowned at her and sat on the bed right on the other side of Edd causing him to feel blocked in by the older women, “actually, we do have to do this now, Jane, I am going to need some answers and I need them now. It’s the only way I can help you”.

Kevin passed by the door of the room and noticed the 3 sitting on the bed. With a frown, he leaned against the doorframe, “what’s going on?”

“It’s nothing, go back to bed red”, said Sheila casually.

Jane wrapped her arms around her still confused son, “I think we should all go back to bed and………”

“Jane,” said sheila in a stern loud tone that made everyone jump, “can I have a quick word with you downstairs? Edward, you stay here, Kevin, keep an eye on Edward”.

“Wait, I’m doing what now?” said Kevin confused but his mother ignored him and basically dragged Jane out of the room. Kevin’s gaze followed the two women as they made their way downstairs and got into a hushed argument. He then turned his gaze back to Edd who at this point resigned to his fate and was now laying on his back on the bed, “sooo, why are you in my house, dork?”

Edd sighed and turned his head to look at Kevin, “trust me, I would love nothing more than to go home and sleep in my own bed. But for some reason, your mom seems to be intent on keeping me here. I think something happened last night”.

Kevin quirked an eyebrow at him, “something like what?”

“No idea”, said Edd trying to think about what might have happened last night or even yesterday. Kevin looked toward the staircase and walked towards it a bit hearing the two women argue.

“Honestly, why can’t you just drop it?” asked Jane, getting a bit agitated.

“Don’t tell me to fucking drop it”, said Sheila angrily

Jane gasped, “Sheila, language, the boys are just upstairs, they can hear….”

“Jane”, said Sheila, “there is a fucking gun on top of my kitchen counter. Where are your priorities, woman?”

Kevin’s eyes widened, he quietly backed up to the door of the room and walked in. He closed the door behind him and addressed the raven-haired male, “dude what the hell happened last night?”

“I honestly can’t remember”, said Edd rubbing his temple, “yesterday I was…..” it then hit him, “Reggie”. 

“Reggie?” asked Kevin, “what about him?”

“I was….um, said Edd unsure. He wasn’t sure he should tell him about what went on with Reggie, “I was supposed to meet with someone after school but I never got to and then I woke up here”.

“That’s it?” asked Kevin frowning, “and I thought you said you weren’t messing around with Reggie”.

“I’m not, I...I..wasn’t,” said Edd looking away from Kevin. He ignored the sounds of the redhead approaching him and the shifting of the bed as the other male sat next to him. 

Kevin wrapped an arm around the smarter male, “I can’t help you unless you’re honest with me Edd”.

Edd looked up at him a bit shocked at the level of sincerity in his voice, he looked away again and held himself as anxiety caused his stomach to flutter, “Kevin...it’s complicated”.

“He was fucking bullying you, wasn’t he?” said Kevin, when Edd didn’t answer the redhead continued trying to keep his anger at bay, “why didn’t you say anything? I see you every damn day, you could just say something. I would have protected you”.

Edd suddenly got up and walked towards the door stopping in front of it, “I was trying to deal with it on my own. He destroyed my locker and promised to do worse to me if I didn’t go out with him. I refused and he sent his friends to spy on me after he was suspended from school. I thought that if I showed him I wasn’t afraid by meeting with him face to face that maybe he would realize that he couldn’t intimidate me anymore and leave me alone”.

“Or he could have beaten you into a pulp and left your lifeless body in a ditch”, said Kevin letting his anger show, “Double D, facing him head-on without back up is not brave, it’s fucking stupid”. He calmed himself and approached him slowly, “look, I get what you tried to do, but you have no way of defending yourself and Reggie is a fucking psycho. There’s no telling what could have happened”.

The room was quiet for a while before Edd quietly answered, “I know”. Edd turned to lean against the door and faced Kevin.

Kevin stood in front of him frowning some more, “were you with Reggie last night?”

Edd shook his head, “I think I blacked out before I could meet him”.

“That’s it?” asked Kevin, Edd confirmed with a nod. Kevin began to rub his chin for a bit, “then where did the gun come from?”

Edd’s eyes widened as he looked up at the jock, “gun? What gun? Who said anything about a gun?” Kevin was about to answer when the door opened and pushed Edd right into Kevin’s arms.

Jane angrily walked into the room. She then noticed Kevin holding Edd and trying to help him regain his footing. For some reason this made her even angrier, “ OH NO YOU DON’T, unhand him this instant”, she yanked Edd away from Kevin and gave the redhead a quick glare “ my son requires his personal space, excuse us”. She proceeded to pull Edd towards the staircase and down the stairs followed by a blushing Kevin trying to explain himself.

“Mrs. Vincent, it’s not what you think, I was just trying to help him up,” said Kevin.

“I highly doubt that”, Jane chipped back at him continuing to glare at him.

Sheila appeared out from the kitchen and stood in front of him protectively, “you better relax Jane, that’s my son you’re talking to”.

“Mom, it’s ok”, said Kevin.

“Well I’m sorry”, said Jane, “but you can’t blame me for wanting to protect my son from the hormonal advances of an unsavory character”.

“Mother, please” pleaded Edd, this was horribly embarrassing.

“Hormonal advances? really? “ said Sheila, looking at the other woman incredulously, “unsavory character? You’ve known him since he was a kid. Just because you want to avoid the issue with your son doesn’t mean you’re going to take it out on mine. We’re trying to help you, but if you’re going to be like that, then get the fuck out of my house. Oh and you better believe the police are going to know about this, I’m getting this gun out of my house one way or another”.

“FINE, suit yourself”, Jane turns and marches towards the door, “come along Edward”. With that, she opened the door roughly and angrily marched out.

Edd timidly turned to Mrs. Barr and bowed his head to her, “I’m sorry Mrs. Barr, she is usually not this rude. Thank you for taking care of me”.

“It’s ok kiddo”, said Sheila giving him a small smile, she hugged him while speaking to him in a soothing voice, “look you might get a visit from the cops, just tell them whatever you can remember from last night. You’ll be ok”.

Edd smiled back and respectfully removed himself from her arms, he shot one last apologetic smile at Kevin before joining his mother.

Sheila slowly retreated to the kitchen, “do me a favor and get the door red”.

“Ok mom”, said Kevin, he made his way to the door and locked it. He went back over to where his mother was sitting at the table rubbing her temples. He then noticed the gun on the kitchen counter and looked back at his mother, “is...is that thing real”.

“Don’t touch it”, said Sheila in a strained and tired tone, “I’m about to get the cops in a minute”.

Kevin gave her a look of concern, “so, what happened last night?”

Sheila sighed and leaned back in her chair, she then reached for her cell phone which was sitting right in front of her, “well, apparently Edd got into some sort of altercation last night. In fact, I almost ran him over when I was coming home from work. For some reason, he was walking around at 5 in the morning, half-naked and carrying a gun”.

“Half-naked?” Kevin was confused.

“Yep”, said Sheila, “when I approached him to ask him what happened, he shoved the gun into his pocket and passed out. I dragged him into my car and took him home. Thank god for my upper body training because I needed it last night. I managed to get him into the guest room and took the gun away. I then called his parents but Jane was the only one who picked up, I guess his father was on his way to work”.

Kevin also leaned against his chair frowning, “you could have just woken me up”.

Sheila shrugged and turned on her phone, “I didn’t want to wake you, besides, it’s the weekend. After all that training and studying, you deserve a break”.

Kevin grinned a bit, his week was the very definition of hell, between the studying and the intense training for the big game, he was exhausted. So in a way, he was glad she tried to keep him away from the drama. He watched Sheila dial the police, she told them about the gun and the events that transpired last night. The operator put her on hold, and Kevin’s attention drifted back to the gun, “where do you think he got the gun from?”

“No idea”, said Sheila, “but I’m sure they will find out. Did he tell you anything?”

Kevin thought for a moment and decided not to tell her about Reggie, she might tell the cops, “nope, he just told me he passed out shortly before he was about to leave the school”.

  
  


**Meanwhile**

“Mother please, they were just trying to help”, Edd said walking into his house. 

His mother walked upstairs in a huff, “well I’m sorry but I was not going to stand there and allow her to question my parenting skills. I am a damn good mother”, She suddenly stopped halfway up and covered her mouth. She then turned back to Edd, “goodness, please excuse my language. It’s just, she heavily implied that I have no idea of what is going on with my own son”.

Edd approached her gently and placed a hand on her shoulder, “I’m sure she meant nothing by it, she’s just concerned. Why I’m sure if you found Kevin in a compromising situation with a weapon you’d be concerned too.” He pulled his mother in for a small hug before pulling away from her. He then moved past her to head to his room, “you should get some rest, mother, it's way too early to….”

“Edward,” Jane said quietly, as if afraid to speak, “where…..where did you get the gun from?”

Edd met the top of the stairs and turned to her, “I honestly don’t know”.

Jane quietly made her way to where Edd was but stopped short a few steps, “Edward do you remember anything from last night? Do you remember seeing Mrs. Barr?”

“Mother, I promise I have no idea what….” Edd was interrupted as Jane questioned him again.

“I...I just want you to be honest with me sweetie”, said Jane nervously, she stayed where she was as if afraid to go any further, “did you have another fainting spell? Do you remember what happened to your shirt?”

Edd looked at his mother blankly, it was like his brain was trying to reset itself in order to answer her. Finally, after what seemed like forever he responded in a totally different tone, “oh mother, you’re a curious little cat, aren’t you?” 

Jane stepped back a bit in fear, “I….I’m sorry, I just wanted…”

“You just wanted to know if I was ok”, said Edd, he smiled at her and leaned over to give her a kiss on the forehead. He then looked her in the eye, “I promise you, I am fine, but I’m also very tired and so are you”. Edd turned and headed toward his room, “off to bed mother, you have a very long day ahead of you”.

“Edward….Edward? What about the police?” asked Jane on the verge of panicking.

“Everything is fine mother. Get some rest”, said Edd before entering his room and closing the door behind him.

  
  
  
  
  



	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note: The new shirt Edd is wearing in this chapter is actually a real item. It caught my eye for it’s design and because blue is my favorite color. Take a look at it in the link below:
> 
> https://www.lightinthebox.com/en/p/men-s-daily-club-casual-street-chic-punk-gothic-all-seasons-t-shirt-print-round-neck-short-sleeve-polyester-thin_p6435754.html?currency=USD&litb_from=paid_adwords_shopping&sku=1_16%7C2_9331&country_code=us&utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=cpc&adword_mt=&adword_ct=439356249101&adword_kw=&adword_pos=&adword_pl=&adword_net=u&adword_tar=&adw_src_id=2907233386_10211086312_108839474544_pla-679199385013&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0rSABhDlARIsAJtjfCd588fboBlELqSIVhcbP34lLu7rgQVRSnMwo5OZOR1ZL9ZhyBpnPusaAtVOEALw_wcB

Time was leaving him like sand through a net, He couldn’t tell what day it was, last he checked he was being escorted home by his mom. He turned over in his bed and rested on his side, at the very least he was pretty sure he was in his room this time. A knock on his door drew his attention, “who is it?”

The feminine voice he heard through the door paused for a while before timidly answered, “darling, I am not going to intrude in on your privacy, so I’ll wait out here”.

Edd frowned and rose from his place on the bed, “you can come in mother”.

The raven-haired woman opened the door slowly as if she was waiting for something to come flying her way. When she peeked her head in she noticed her son sitting on his bed confused and slightly annoyed. She smiled a little before nervously entering in, “how are you, sweetie? Did you sleep well? Can I get you anything before you head off to school?”

“School?” Edd asked, last he checked this was Saturday.

His mother blinked at him in confusion, “it’s Monday honey”.

Edd was confused and a bit shocked. He looked for his phone on the dresser next to the bed and turned it on. There it was, on the screen, Monday, 7 am, he stared at his phone for a while before looking back at his mother, “I see, actually no I think I’ll just make myself some toast”.

His mother smiled but kept her distance, “I respect your decision darling, and I will leave you to it”.

After she left, Edd slowly made his way to his bathroom and splashed cold water in his face. He had to do something about these sudden lapses of time.

[Perhaps it's nothing, I did go through something really traumatic.]

Still, even under such circumstances, he would imagine he’d still at least remember what happened on Sunday. He raised his head and screamed in shock at what he saw in the mirror, “WHEN DID I FROST MY TIPS?” the tips of his bangs were now frosted blue. He touched them as if it was the first time he had ever seen hair in his life. It was a cute look for him but…….who the hell frosted his tips while he was asleep.

[Oh I remember now, I got them frosted while I was on a date with Nat yesterday. We even bought an outfit to match.]

“No,” he said faintly, “how could I forget something like that?” He rubbed the back of his head and hurried out of his bathroom and went to his closet. After a short search, he found something that he did not recognize but instantly approved. It was a black T-shirt with a large skull taking up its entire front. The skull was surrounded by blue flames and blue lights in its eyes and bone nose. Its mouth agape revealing its fangs. The back of the shirt was the same. He was almost ashamed to admit it but the attention to detail on this shirt was amazing. Under the shirt was a black pair of jeans with blue straps hanging off of them loosely connected with silver chains. 

[I absolutely love it, I have the best boyfriend ever.]

Edd blushed for a bit, this outfit was kind of cool but that didn’t erase the fact that he couldn’t remember any of it. As he went through the motions of getting ready for school he made a point to contact his doctor and let him know what is going on.

Hours later

“We have a football game today?”

Eddy looked up from the two large boxes of merchandise and eyed him confused, “uh yeah, we talked about it last Saturday remember?”

“Sure,” Edd said, he didn’t bother to fight it, if he didn’t remember it he would just pretend that he did, “I just thought you meant it was on another day”. 

“Nope,” Eddy said cheerfully unpacking the box he was looking through. They were standing to the side where the bleachers were. Ed moved through the crowd energetically inside of his lizard costume, we excitedly agreed to be the company mascot today. Double D smiled as the lovable oaf flexed his cotton-filled muscles and stuck his big lizard head in people’s faces much to the annoyance of the crowd. It reminded him of the time he had made a monster costume for Ed which caused him to think he was actually a beast from a horror movie. 

[He was way too into being a monster, it scared the shit out of all of us. But at least I got a kiss from Naz out of it.]

He blushed a bit thinking about how it made him feel back then, “he’s having way too much fun”.

Eddy looked over at Ed briefly before rolling his eyes and bringing out more stuff, “the guy's giving me De Ja Vu. I swear if we end up pasted to a wall with chewed up chunky puffs I’m kicking his fucking teeth in”.

Double D chuckled and leaned back against the railing. He ignored the action going on behind him for a while before a football hit the small of his back, “ow”. He turned and came face to face with Kevin dressed in his football uniform.

The redhead stared back at him as he retrieved his ball. Neither males knew exactly what to say to one another, the last time they spoke Kevin’s mom was in a fight with Edd’s mothers. At this moment the only thing Kev could think of was, “when did you frost your tips?”

Edd instinctively touched his bangs, “um...yesterday…...apparently”.

Kevin gave him a brief look of confusion before grabbing the railing and leaning against it, “killer shirt by the way”. He regarded the shirt with his silent approval but slowly looking up at Edd, “you ok man? Your mom kind of freaked us out that day. My mom called the cops and told them about the gun”.

Suddenly Edd’s stomach began to churn a little as his anxiety was triggered, “uh yeah…..I’d rather not talk about it right now”.

“Sure, whatever” Kevin shrugged, “but you’re going to have to at some point”.

Edd frowned a bit.

[Why does he suddenly care about what’s going on with me?]

He decided to be polite about it, after all, Kev’s concern was in a way kind of sweet, “I know, still thank you for understanding Kev”.

“Whatever”, said Kevin trying to hide his blushing face by turning his head away from the ravenette. Suddenly something came to him forcing him to look back at the other male, “wait, since when do you like football? Didn’t think I’d see you cheering on our team”.

“I’m not”, said Edd, “I’m selling our Merch”.

“You still on that shit,” asked Kevin quirking an eyebrow

Edd frowned at him while crossing his arms, “it’s a legitimate business Kevin”. The redhead gave him a skeptical look. Edd then rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, “ok, now it is a legitimate business, I’ve taken the reins as head of marketing and finance. May I interest you in a T-shirt?”

Kevin rolled his eyes, “yeah sure, let’s just shoot my social life in the dick and set it on fire right now”.

“Oh come on,” said Edd trying not to laugh, “they’re not that bad, I actually think they’re kind of….um..nifty”.

“Nifty? Really dude?” asked Kevin chuckling, “I think I’ve filled my dork quota for the day, I’m out”. He ran out onto the field with his ball but stopped and turned for a moment back to Edd, “you coming to the after-party”.

Before Edd could answer Eddy interrupts them, “hell yeah we are. Now beat it, jockstrap. You’re scaring away our customers”.

“Yeah wouldn’t want to scare away the customers you’re pretending to have” Kevin sneered at him before leaving. 

Eddy then turned to Edd, “come on, we got merch to push”. Double D turned to check on the taller of them and noticed he was doing various fortnight moves at the top of the stairs, annoying the living hell out of every teen seated there. He decided it was time to intervene, he grabbed some shirts and hats out of the large box Eddy was rummaging through and followed Ed up the stairs while Eddy yelled obnoxiously through a mega horn at the crowd, “get your green serpent energy Merch, THAT’S RIGHT FOLKS, GREEN SERPENT ENERGY IT’LL MELT YOUR INSIDES”.

Edd turned around to look at him confused.

[I thought he changed that logo.]

Edd smiled down at the teen girl who looked back at him equally confused and unsure, “don’t mind him, it’s just a little dark humor. May I interest you in a T-shirt or perhaps a key chain?” The girl nodded and requested a $5.00 keychain. Suddenly everyone in the crowd stood up and cheered forcing him to turn around to the players below. The peach pits were in the lead by 10 points or at least that is what he assumed. Sports were never his thing, his dorky past forbade it. As the game went on the Ed’s continuously ignored it, the merch was selling like hotcakes. It appeared that being exposed on Nat’s youtube channel worked even though the crowd seemed more interested in the merch and getting to see Nat's boyfriend in real life than the actual drink. Some wanted to take selfies with him and his new shirt and others asked rather personal questions about his relationship, he could definitely do without the extra attention. Speaking of which a lot was being directed at the star of the game, Kevin, as he barrelled through the competition towards the field goal. Edd found himself unable to turn away as the excitement of the crowd continued to climb. When the redhead made it to the goal and slammed the ball down, the crowd lost their minds. He did a celebratory dance and started doing the worm on the field. Edd could not hold back his laughter.

[What a clown? And he has the nerve to call me a dork?]

The sound of something exploding stunned him out of his skin. Edd looked toward the sound and his eyes widened in slight horror, “EDDY!!!!”

Eddy had somehow gotten his hands on a T-shirt cannon and started shooting it at the crowd, “What? The crowd loves it”.

A random student stood up raising her hand, “OVER HERE, SHOOT IT INTO MY FACE”.

“YOU GOT IT”, Eddy shouted back taking aim.

Edd rushed over and forced the canon to the floor, “Eddy no”. The crowd booed and hissed at him ruining their fun as Eddy glared at the party pooper. Edd glared back as he addressed the crowd, “oh boo yourselves, it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye”. At that moment he gets beamed in the back of the head with a football, causing the crowd to cheer.

Eddy laughs hysterically, “bulls-eye”. He resumes shooting shirts into the crowd while laughing like a lunatic. Ed continued to dance around in his costume, doing the running man and gyrating like he’s magic mike. Another student laughed and slipped a dollar into the mouth of his foam lizard head. Double D slowly picked himself up off the floor and rubbed the back of his head.

[This just isn’t my day.]

He picked up the ball and was about to throw it onto the field when another player approached him, “hey goth kid toss it back”.

Edd sighed and tossed the ball lightly to the jock who he recognized was Jack, “I’m not a goth, and could you kindly watch where you’re throwing that ball?”

“Whatever”, said Jack smiling before suddenly casting him a slightly serious look, “later….killer”.

Edd’s face fell as he watched as Jack hesitated, he clearly did not mean to say that. Jack quickly retreated onto the field before Edward had the chance to address him.

[Gosh, I wonder what is bothering Jack, I should go check on him. Perhaps I can get him alone during the after-party.]

For some reason that thought made him feel nervous, He couldn’t see any feasible reason to go see Jack, it’s not like they knew each other.

[I really need to go check on Jack.]

“W….why” Edward whispered to himself confusedly. Why did he care so much about seeing Jack.

[Jack obviously needs my help. I MUST GET HIM ALONE.]

Shivers ran down Edd’s spine at that one, he always had inner thoughts propelling him to do things like his homework or cleaning his room, everyone does…………..this is normal….right?

[Perfectly normal, my anxiety is really doing a number on me. I need a distraction.]

Edd sighed a little in relief and silently chided himself for getting so easily worked up. “What is wrong with me today?” he said chuckling, he really should go see his doctor, perhaps he should consider taking anxiety medication after all. The roar of the crowd behind him jolted him from his thoughts.

[Did our team win?]

Edd turned to see why everyone was cheering, it looked like the peach pits won.

[Of course, we won, with Kevin heading the team how could we not.]

Hours after the Peach pits won, the Ed’s piled into Eddy’s car and drove to Naz’s place. Double D sat in the back seat next to a large duffle bag full of money, “you know Eddy the least you could have done was drop it off at home”.

“I’ll put it in the trunk”, said Eddy while driving. They arrived at Naz’s home where the party was already underway. They could tell by a random teen puking on her lawn. When they arrived inside they were bombarded with loud music, a noisy crowd grinding against one another while dancing, and underaged drinking that would have put all of their parents to shame. Eddy grinned, “woah this place is pumping”. 

Naz sloppily swerved her way through the crowd trying to avoid stepping on anyone's shoes. She was dressed in a pink tank top with blue jeans. Her body had really filled out throughout the years making the outfit look way more scandalous than she probably intended. Her hair was longer, a bit past her shoulders, and in a curly ponytail which swooshed around behind her as she greeted the ed’s at the door, “WOOOO, THE ED’S ARE IN THE HOUSE”. She threw herself onto Eddy, hugging him and ignoring the look of complete shock on his face. He didn’t think she remembered them at all with the way she was acting in school. She then turned to hug Edward, “Hey I heard you were back in town, but I never got a chance to say hi”.

“It’s ok”, said Edward, his nose wrinkling from the smell of alcohol in her breath, “I could never be mad at you. You’re as sweet as ever”.

“Aww thank you”, Naz said before giving Ed a hug, “Hey big guy, where’ve you been? I haven’t seen you around”.

Ed looked at her confused, “I have 3 classes with you”.

Naz looks back at him equally confused with half-lidded eyes, “Oh right, I must have missed you”. She then burst into a chuckle that seemed to come out of nowhere, “sorry, I’ve had like 8 beers since this shit started, I think...I don’t fucking know”. She laughed again at the bewildered males before hooking her arms around Eddy and Edward leading them into her living room, “don’t just stand there, go, mingle, OH WAIT A MINUTE”. She suddenly strayed from them and made her way to the large stereo at the other end of the room. The Ed’s were about to take her advice and separate when the music suddenly stopped. Naz stood next to the stereo, this time facing the crowd with a microphone, “attention, attention please, HEY YO SHUT THE FUCK UP, I have something to say.” The crowd stopped dancing for a moment and all eyes were on her. She moved over to Edward and pulled him to her side, “guys, for those of you who don’t know this is Edward, but we just called him Double D”.

“Naz, what’re you doing?” Edward said puzzled.

“Shhh, it's ok, I got to get this out before I sober up”, Naz said before teetering a little to the side. When she regained her balance she continued, “Double D has a boyfriend. Nat….he’s like...going out with Nat. I just need to say that because I know….like ...you chicks in here like to hop on the new piece of ass and that’s not cool...it’s not cool MEGAN. YEAH, I SEE YOU BITCH, and I know what you did last year”. The brunette she was talking about gave her an outraged look as if she were about to pull the blond's hair out. Naz glared at her and continued, “I wish you would bitch, DO SOMETHING, I dare you. Double D is off-limits, if I see any of you sluts near him, you’re going to catch these hands, for real”. Double D learned two things about Naz that night, one was she obviously could not handle her liquor, and two she had apparently summoned the ghost of 2pak, and he had currently inhabited her body. He almost expected her to bust a cap in someone's ass. She turned the music back on and kissed Edd on the cheek, “welcome back baby”. She then drunkenly sauntered away towards the kitchen ignoring the visibly shocked crowd.

Eddy moved over to Edd, eyes wide in disbelief, “I think I just shit myself”.


End file.
